Heartbreak
by Scaranpannoir
Summary: Shinichi broke up with Kaito, and after that he was shrunk... Kaito's love for Shinichi never wavered, and he still strives to get him back, shrunk or not.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N**_

 _ **I got this fanfic because I was talking to my underclassman about her love life and guess what? This is what happens… Oh, and by the way, I might not update this that fast because**_ **Grim Reaper _is my primary ongoing fanfic, so sorry~_**

"We're off!" Shinichi said angrily. Kaito looked at him in disbelief, masked by his poker face. "But..." Kaito started, but was cut off by the detective's glare. "Shini—"

"Don't you dare call me that again!" he said, turning his back to the magician. "As I said before, _Kuroba-kun,_ we're off!" he said, putting an emphasis on the name 'Kuroba'. Shinichi left him there, heartbroken, and, he hated to admit it, but he was close to tears.

The same could be said for Shinichi, though. Tears stung his eyes as the cold wind blew. His throat felt tight as he took a deep breath. _'This is for the best…'_ he thought, wiping away his tears and proceeded to go to his house. _'As long as this saves him somehow…'_

* * *

"What's wrong, Shinichi?" Ran asked, eating the ice cream slowly as they walked around Tropical Land, resting from the excitement of the day. Shinichi gave her his best smile and shook his head. "Nope, nothing… Anyways, what do you think about that roller coaster next?"

"Eeh… But it looks sort of scary…"

"Not interested?" Shinichi asked, his voice gentle. "Fine," Ran said, gathering her courage before standing up and walking with her childhood friend. But she had this feeling that maybe something is wrong with him.

Seeing that he's not talking about Kaito but talking about Sherlock Holmes, her suspicions were heightened.

* * *

After that, the murder happened, and then, Shinichi following Gin and Vodka and getting knocked out by Gin and then consuming the drug. Finally, he woke up to find his body shrunk, and then went to Agasa's house and changed his name to Edogawa Conan, and- everyone knows what happened, right?

Too bad for Kaito, though, because of the blow to the head Gin inflicted upon him resulted in Shinichi, or rather, Conan, completely forgetting about their relationship and their break up.

"Cheer up, Kaito," Aoko said, giving him a chocolate cake and milk tea while waiting for Inspector Nakamori to come back. "But I didn't know what got into his head, and he was acting all okay before that too," Kaito said, his tone sad.

"Maybe it was just a misunderstanding? Try calling him, just to be sure?"

"He blocked my number, if he didn't delete it…" Kaito said with a sigh. "That's not like him to block or delete someone's number just because he broke up with that person," Aoko said with a frown. "Wait, let me call him."

Aoko then excused herself from the room and took out her phone. One ring, two rings, three rings. She sighed and kept on waiting. She didn't like to see her usually cheerful friend to go down just because of one man. She was pissed, way more pissed at the detective than she'd ever been at the magician.

She brightened up when she heard her call being picked up. "Hello?!" Aoko said, hopeful. "Hello?" a childish voice said from the other side, which made her raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Umm… This is Kudou-san's number, right?" Aoko asked, checking her phone once, just to be sure.

"Eer… Yeah…" the child said, stuttering a little. "But, who is this?" both of them said at the same time. In the background, Aoko heard Ran's voice, asking Conan, "Who's that, Conan-kun?"

"Aoko Nakamori, Inspector Nakamori's daughter," Aoko said to the boy before he said anything more. "Nakamori-san, then?" Conan said with some sort of fake cheer, like the ones Kaito usually used when he had problems up his sleeve, following him like a tail.

His confusion wasn't masked as well as how Kaito usually masked his own, so she knew. "Nakamori-san, why do you have my phone number?" Conan asked, the memory not with him at the moment. "You don't remember? You know, when you and Kaito had your first date… You were the one who suggested it to be you, me, Ran-san, and Kaito…" Aoko said, her voice trailing off.

' _He doesn't remember?'_ she thought with worry. The childish voice and the use of 'my' on Shinichi's phone number made her think about some impossible things. She shook her head, dismissing the thought before it confused her to no end. "Are you… actually Kudou-san? As in Kudou Shinichi-san?" Aoko asked, knowing the answer anyways, even if the boy said 'no'.

Silence filled the line, and she worried about him. What happened? How come you have a child's voice? You're Kudou Shinichi, yet you sound like a grade-schooler? So many questions, but so thick was the silence, she didn't dare to ask him anything.

"… I'm sorry, Nakamori-san, but I've got to go," he said finally, leaving her questions hanging. "Yeah, sorry to trouble you," she said, feeling awkward. She cut the line with a click, shock apparent on her face.

"Aoko?" Kaito asked after a long silence from the girl. "What's wrong?" The shock on her face was priceless, had he been in a despair-less state. But right now, he couldn't care much, not at all. She shook her head before saying, "I… don't know…"

Kaito looked at her weirdly before she finally made eye contact with him. "I don't know, Kaito, but I think… There's something wrong with Kudou-san…" She then told him how the call went, and Kaito had mixed feelings about the situation.

Happy? Hopeful? Sad? He didn't know. All he knew was the fact that somehow, it seems like God had given him a second chance. Or probably it was Lady Luck? He didn't care. He thanked whatever forces had given him the once-in-a-lifetime chance and took it without a second thought.

* * *

"Jii-chan," Kaito called the old man, once he was safe in his house, safely out of the Inspector's daughter's earshot. "I need help with something."

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Yes, it's a very, very short chapter, but since it's some sort of prologue, please, please, please let it slide? Ehehe… Welp, that's all for the first (?) chapter… if prologues count as a 'chapter'…**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N**_

 _ **To be honest, I'm at a stalemate in Grim Reaper… I have no idea how to get the story to the ending I had in mind, so I'll just write Heartbreak instead of getting my thoughts knotted into some… weird jumble… Well, enjoy chapter 2, people! Oh and to those who have reviewed, thanks so much XD.**_

 _ **To the question; Why did they break up?**_

 _ **Answer; I don't know. Why don't you ask Shinichi?**_

Kaito stood at the rooftop, the bejeweled hairpin in his hand gleamed under the moonlight. He didn't even need to check it, because he knew that it wasn't Pandora. He only prepared this heist to lure out Shinichi, just like the few other heists before.

When he saw Ran and Sonoko outside, so he had a hunch that Shinichi was coming. No, he was very sure that the East Detective would come to capture him. And he would even be willing to be captured, only if he would tell him the reason for their break up. He heard footsteps, and then one of his traps activating, but the door opened anyways.

"Kaitou KID!"

He was surprised to hear a child's voice. Masking his surprise with a poker face, he turned to see a mini version of his beloved detective in front of the doorway, Inspector Nakamori caught in the thread webs trap he prepared.

He knew that the only one to be able to dodge the trap would be Shinichi. How did the mini version of him dodge it? "You won't get away with that hairpin!" he said, pulling him back to reality. "My, my," he said, walking up to the child.

"Aren't you a little bit too young to be trying to capture me?" he said, kneeling in front of Conan. His determined face reminded him of the first time Shinichi met him as Kaitou KID. Adorable, he thought with a genuine smile, before masking it into one of his poker face smiles.

He then ruffled his head and slipped the hairpin on to his hair before jumping off to the edge of the rooftop. "You won't get away!" Conan said and inflated a soccer ball, turning his shoe's power to the max and kicking it, aiming it at the thief's shoulder (he wouldn't want the thief to fall to his death because the ball hit his face and made him fall unconscious anyways.)

Kaito stepped away from the edge to dodge the attack, and that gave Conan a chance to tackle him. But Kaito's reflexes were fast, and he dodged the boy who rolled away to reduce the impact he received, his glasses falling off from the move.

Kaito's breath caught. He'd seen the boy, long before this, in a picture his dad showed him once. It was a younger version of Shinichi, when he finally got into elementary school, with his parents, all smiles. But then, a thought struck him. He hasn't heard of Shinichi solving any cases as of late, has he? Remembering the newspapers he read after their break up, other than the one that happened in Tropical Land, he hasn't heard of the detective. Even the media speculated that he might be dead.

But now, a child, who looks like younger Shinichi appeared. He felt compelled to ask, "Boy, who are you?"

"Edogawa Conan," he said, getting up and putting his glasses back on, "a detective."

' _Why does that sound so cliché?'_ Kaito mused and gave the boy his widest Kaitou grin. "Well, then, Tantei-kun," he started, and the glare he received was satisfying. _'I guess his heart still remembers my pattern?'_ he thought. "I will take my leave," he bowed and jumped away, opening his hang glider and gliding away.

"Shit…" Conan cursed. He did not calculate the possibility of getting carried by the wind once he opened the glider and miss the edge of the roof. _'He must've calculated that beforehand,'_ Conan thought, an amused smile on his face. While luring out Gin, he might as well have his mind occupied by someone who has the potential to lure him out also, like Kaitou KID.

* * *

Kaito did what he loved and did best; stalking Shinichi—or in this case, Conan. The detective's senses were, as usual, sharp. He might have to add the distance he used to stalk him if he didn't want to get caught.

He took the day off of school for that day, just so that he could stalk the boy who had a skateboard under his arm, walking out of the Mouri Agency place. "I'll be going!" he said childishly, Ran following him not too long after. Changing his disguise, he walked to the same place where he figured Conan would go to, since he didn't want to risk getting caught by the young detective.

"Conan-kun!" a girl called out to him, running towards him with two boys behind her. "Genta-kun, Mitsuhiko-kun, Ayumi-chan, good morning!" he said cheerfully, like a child would. He then left to let his child-detective-who-he-suspects-to-be-Shinichi alone so that he could concentrate at school and his hand once again was on the phone.

* * *

Conan looked out of the window, certain that his stalker would not watch him while in school, because since he'd stepped inside the school gates, he stopped feeling as if he were being watched. But he was still wary. Could it be the organization? Or could it be a serial killer? Or probably his dad, who has the tendency to do so when he came to Japan?

He shook his head, his body still tired from the night before. Maybe he was just paranoid, after all that excitement and his head hurting when KID called him, 'Tantei-kun' as if he'd called him that way since way before. But he was certain that last night was his first face-off with the renowned thief as Conan.

He knew by fact that he'd faced KID as Shinichi, before he was shrunk. "Nee, nee, Conan-kun!" Ayumi called, dragging him back to reality. With a book in her arms and the whole class going out, Ayumi continued, "Let's go! Everyone's off to music class right now! We should catch up to them!"

"All right," Conan said, compliant.

* * *

The day went by like always, and he'd started to think that it was just his imagination that he felt as if he were being stalked. But cases like child kidnapping was booming, and as useless as Mouri was, even he was dragged into the case. He'd seen the other kids back to their houses before he rode the skateboard back to the Agency.

Mouri was there when he came in. "I'm back!" he said, noticing Inspector Megure and Mouri inside, having a seemingly serious discussion. "Welcome back," Megure said warmly, and Kogoro only grunted in response. "Where's Ran-nee-chan?" Conan asked.

"She went with Sonoko to this café," Kogoro said dismissively. After muttering an, "Oh, I see," Conan placed a listening device under the couch before excusing himself upstairs. There wasn't anything particularly interesting, as he'd expected, from the discussion below. He had decided to lay low, and he wasn't risking trying to get info by being at the office.

Besides, the feeling of being stalked he had had come back when he left the others back at their houses. Pouring himself a glass of juice, he sat in front of the TV, watching the news. Since the discussion downstairs wasn't going anywhere, might as well watch the news.

Once turned on, the news anchor immediately spoke, "Today, at 12.47, a body of a missing child was found under a tree in a relatively deserted park." Conan's full attention was drawn, and thoughts of the stalker from earlier vanished.

From what he knew, boys and girls alike had been found around town, dead, after missing for a few days. Some had been raped, some had been tortured, and some… Well, to put it simply, they had all been kidnapped, then killed.

There were suspects, of course, but none of them were guilty. At least, out of ten people, nine people had been innocent. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Besides, the culprit, or culprits, he suspected, were very careful to not leave any evidence leading to them.

Parents were getting worried, and so far, the ones kidnapped were grade school until middle school children. _'Maybe he or she or they, even, are pedophiles, or around the age of middle to high schoolers.'_ He couldn't think of any other possibility because the children had nothing in common, physically nor mentally, or even based on their background.

Before he knew it, the glass he held was empty, and he stood to get some more, when he heard Megure say, "We did find something in common." He stopped and listened, intent on getting any sort of lead. He couldn't let any more innocent children die.

"Other than the age, which ranges from seven until thirteen, and the fact that they all live in or near Beika, they all had disappeared after going somewhere crowded and eventful, be it a market or a festival."

Opening his phone, he searched for the most recent events which happened around Beika, in particular, and called Agasa, informing of his about-to-be visit. "Uncle, I'm going out to Agasa Hakase's place, alright?" he said before closing the door to the office shut.

"Yeah, yeah, don't be late for dinner, though," Mouri said dismissively, focusing back to Megure.

* * *

"So they really did go missing after crowded events…" Conan said, watching as Agasa hacked through the police database of missing children and most recent serial killer cases. _'And to think that the perpetrator might not be alone…'_ His stomach twisted at the thought of multiple people going after one kid to the other, just to do their… things before murdering business.

"But since the way the children disappeared are similar, it might be that they came from the same team?"

"What do you mean?" Conan asked. "You know, like how Gin and Vodka are from the same organization, there might be other people, like Vermouth and so on," Agasa pointed out. Conan nodded in approval. "That might be…"

Before 5 PM, Conan had left Agasa's house to go back to the Mouri Agency, and once again, the feeling of being stalked came back. _'Just who is this stalker?!'_ Conan gritted his teeth and took a longer route back to shake off the stalker.

By the time he got back, it was way after dinnertime. "Where have you been?!" Ran scolded him after an "I'm back."

"A-ah… Sorry, Ran-nee-chan… The game Agasa Hakase introduced was very exciting, so I couldn't get back fast enough…" Conan said with an apologetic face and tone. "Mou… I was worried you know…" Ran said, hands still on her hips. A rumble from Conan's stomach made her smile and Conan blushed.

"I knew you'd be hungry. I saved your portion just to be safe," Ran said, ushering him to the dining table. She got herself a glass of water and watched as Conan ate hungrily. Probably the stalking thing had taken a lot out of him, and even he—or to be exact, his stomach—couldn't deny it.

After preparing himself for bed, Conan remembered the listening device he left under the couch, and went downstairs to get it.

"Found it!" he said happily and put it back on to his glasses. Getting back up, he saw Mouri's desk littered with paper, and curiosity made him go over and read it, finding, to his delight, that the contents were about the series of child kidnapping and murder.

He didn't even notice when a certain white-clad thief came into the office and hovered over him. Surprised, Conan turned around and found KID, grinning over him. "Hello, Tantei-kun," he said fondly. "Kaitou KID?! Why are you—"

"Shh," KID said, a gloved finger on Conan's lips. "You don't want your dear Ran-san to get the wrong idea, now do you?"

"… What wrong idea?" Conan asked, seeing nothing out of place, or awkward. "I just want to ask you something, _Kudou Shinichi…_ "

"H-how did you-?!" Conan said, surprised. _'Weird… I do know for a fact that Shinichi knows me as my civilian identity, if not my KID disguise,'_ Kaito thought, confused. "Don't tell me… That you're with _them_?!" Conan growled, much to the thief's surprise.

' _Them who?'_ he thought, and the first person that came to mind was Snake. That sly, filthy Snake who goes around with a gun in hand, happy and ready to shoot anyone if he were ordered to, at least in Kaito's imagination. A low growl came from him at the misunderstanding. "I'm not," he said, still growling.

Conan flinched. Kaito could literally see the warning sign in the child's terrified eyes, despite the general knowledge that KID wouldn't hurt anyone. He even had a no-hurt policy, for god's sake! He ceased his growl and took off Conan's glasses, which made him look somewhat like Shinichi.

"Do you really not remember, Tantei-kun?" _The nights we spent together on dates, and us both gliding over the city to marvel at its' lights?_ He added in his mind, hoping that the child-Shinichi could see them in his eyes. "Remember what?" he gave him a growl of his own.

"Remember the fact that one of yours had me drugged and turned me into—" he stopped himself before he could continue. For some reason, the thief gauged some sort of anger and the feeling that he had to protect him at all cost, despite not knowing him too well, and that nearly made him blurt out the whole reason for his situation.

Heck, he didn't even know if Gin's whole organization knew what he'd done.

Kaito raised an eyebrow. _'What did Snake and his friends do to_ my _detective?!'_ he thought angrily, carefully masked by the expression of curiosity. "What did they do?" KID asked, making Conan fidget. After a while, he sighed.

"I won't force you to tell me, I'll find out anyways, one way or another," he said, opening the window slightly to ensure quick escape if he needed. "So you were the one who stalked me?" Conan asked, eyes filled with anger. "Oh, why would I, Tantei-kun? I only wanted to know if you're Shinichi…"

The way he'd said his name made his head throb a little. It felt so familiar, yet he couldn't place it. Not at all. His hand automatically went to his head, the part where Gin had hit him hard enough to make him lose consciousness, and made him forget about his relationship with Kaito as Kaito.

Noticing this, KID placed a gloved hand over Conan's bare ones, worried for whatever made that hand of his go over there almost automatically. He knew by experience that Shinichi—Conan—tends to subconsciously touch the place(s) that hurt.

The gesture, though, made him look into those clear azure eyes that he'd grown accustomed to. After all, those were the eyes which he'd stared at as they laid in bed together, Shinichi within his embrace, trying to fight off sleep. It had been those rare nights when Shinichi could make time to visit his boyfriend of a thief and feel his love and tell him how his days went and stuff.

Kaito, of course, would gladly listen, a bare hand touching his back in a loving gesture.

" _We're off!"_ Oh, how the scene had replayed oh so many times that he couldn't count how many anymore. But he knew that their break-up had a reason, and Shinichi wouldn't tell him what.

Conan, on the other hand, was startled at the closeness and those indigo eyes that had him feeling hazy, as if a memory was surfacing, but he couldn't remember at all. The memories of Kaito and Shinichi together in those indigo eyes couldn't be seen by those azure eyes who'd forgotten all about it.

It was such a shame that they couldn't share it right now, but the throb in his head was getting intense, and KID's hand somewhat eased it. "Conan-kun?" Ran's voice was the one thing that brought them back to reality. It had been sort of awkward, and even Kaito couldn't mask it well.

"Well, then, Tantei-kun," he said, pushing the window open, "let us meet again under the beautiful moonlight next time." Placing a peck on those now small lips of his, as he made his escapade before the child had any time to react.

"KID!" Conan said in embarrassment. "Conan-kun?" Ran repeated, opening the door to the office. Conan stood, looking out of the open window, his embarrassment made him red, all the way to his ears. "What's wrong? Are you sick?" Ran asked when she saw the expression he wore, all red and his gaze was filled with haze.

"No, I'm fine, Ran-nee-chan," he said simply, childishly. "If you say so…" Ran said, uncertain wether or not she should let it go. Conan had never been so red before, except for that time when he'd had a really high fever, weeks after the first time he'd moved into the Mouri Agency.

"Let's get back upstairs, alright? You must be tired." A small nod and a yawn was his reply and off they went to their respectful beds. Ran caught a glimpse of one of the papers Mouri had left on his table, and felt uncertain. _'Was he worried that he might get kidnapped too? Is that why he's trying, in his own way, to search for the culprit?'_ Ran thought worriedly.

"Conan-kun," she said calmly, before letting him in her father's bedroom, "remember that you have to be careful when you get involved with these kinds of stuff."

"Huh?"

"The kidnapping and murders… You're a child, and you have to remember that! I don't want you to disappear…" _Just like Shinichi had…_ she added in her mind, and Conan somehow heard it. "Don't worry, Ran-nee-chan," he said warmly, placing a hand on her shoulder for reassurance, "I'll be careful."

With a sad smile, Ran nodded. They then left to get some sleep.

* * *

A few weeks later, a certain child was found in front of the Kudou manor, and Agasa had found her. Picking her up, he took her into his house, not knowing anything about her…

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Ahhaaaa and so, Haibara comes into the story! Oh, and sorry for the rude-sounding remark on the top A/N… It sounded rude to me, so I hope you're not mad about it? But seriously, ask Shinichi. I'll let my hands decide how the story goes anyways… like always… Thank you for your favs and follows and (well, most importantly,) reads! They mean a lot to me!**_

 _ **By the way, I sort of finished this chapter yesterday but... yeah.**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N**_

 _ **If you haven't noticed, I skipped a hell lot of time frames… Like how Haibara appeared, like around… 4 years after the first Conan publication? Yeah. I was just too impatient, I guess… And this morning, I wonder why I had to wake up to the song that (translated to English) goes like this; The rich die, the poor die. Kings die, civilians die… Yeah, something like that… I don't even know who sang it -_-…**_

Sato took out the people in the outermost room, securing them with a rope so that they won't be able to run away when they came to. She touched her earpiece, turning it on, and said, "Area 3, secured."

"Area 4 and 5, secured!" Takagi said, tension clearly evident in his tone. They then proceeded to meet up with Mouri and Megure in Area 1, passing Shiratori in Area 2 and 6, where the children were kept. After securing everyone, they all hauled the bad guys into a police car, and all children into ambulances that they'd called beforehand.

* * *

In the interrogation room, they'd tried to ask them questions, because after all, it _is_ the interrogation room. Conan had watched the whole question-answer thing, and everything the man said had been odd, at least to Conan's ears. The others seemed to accept it, though.

Later, when they were put inside a jail cell, Conan sneaked past the guards and came up to them. "What's your real motive?" he asked, his tone serious. The men looked at him, bewildered that a child his age would ask such a question in such a mature voice. Then, they all laughed.

"He's just a kid," one said between chuckles. "What would _he_ know?"

Conan narrowed his eyes. True, he might be a child at this time, but he didn't like to be belittled, just because he was shrunk. "I know for a fact," he said, eyes cold in anger, "that you guys didn't do this because you wanted to. You were ordered to, am I right? And I supposed the leader isn't that dumb to actually stay with you folks for too long." He shrugged.

"You didn't want to at first, which explained some children escaping and reporting to the police, even though the said police didn't believe them at first. But then, you guys just… started to kidnap as many children as you can. I find that odd… so, why?"

The men quieted down, not expecting a child to point that out. Even the police seemed to believe their reasoning, in which wasn't false, but it wasn't the whole truth either. "True," one person said, his eyes were blank, nothing could be read by the child at all, "we were ordered to… But we were afraid."

"Afraid? Of what?" Conan asked. "He wanted the children to be used for some sort of experimentation… And threatened that he could also use adults if we don't get him any children within a month. That month soon changed into week, and after that, if we don't fetch him one child a day, he'd use one of us to repay it… And it was always randomly chosen, so we didn't want to risk it…"

"And so you kidnapped children just because you were scared?" A grim nod was his answer. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed. Humans will cower before their own fears and will do anything to avoid them, unless they're strong enough to overcome them. This was a known fact.

"And so? Who was he?" Conan asked, his last question for the men. They all looked at each other, uncertain. "Well, you might not believe us…"

"But he told us to call him…"

They all said in unison, "Birra Castello."

"We call him 'Castello' for short," one added. The name rang a bell in Conan's memory, where his dad and a friend or acquaintance of his brought a beer with the same name. _'Beer? A codename?'_ Conan thought, immediately relating it to the Black Organization, to Gin and Vodka. Just like how Haibara was Sherry in Shiho's form…

' _Is he one of_ them _?'_ he thought grimly. He was somewhat happy that he's close to the Black Org, because he hoped that he'd get the formulae Haibara needed to create the antidote to the APTX. But he was worried, to all those children who had been captured and not yet returned, dead or alive.

Walking back to the others, Conan got a severe scolding from Ran, mostly about running off on his own and not informing her at all.

* * *

It had been a while since the last time Ran and Aoko met up. They spoke of places, new and old, just to have some place to sit down and talk in peace. They settled at a small place where they ordered a parfait as they sat.

"So, how's life?" Aoko asked, her usual question when they met after such a long while. "Well, for one thing," Ran said, her tone taking a sad turn, making Aoko look at her, worried. "Shinichi's disappeared."

"Eeh?! Seriously?!" Aoko said, not believing it for one bit, because Kaito seemed to be busy stalking the said East Detective once. Ran's nod was uncharacteristically powerless-ish. "No way… When did you last seen him?"

"Well, we were at Tropical Land… You know, after my Karate Regional Championship?" At Aoko's nod, she continued, "he suddenly ran off somewhere, and after that… Poof, gone."

"That's… worrying," Aoko said, her eyebrows knit together. "But, you know," Ran said, somewhat brightening up a little. Just a little. "After that, I went to check for Shinichi in his house, and found Conan-kun instead."

"Conan-kun? Who's that?"

"Ah, Aoko-chan, you haven't met him yet, huh? He's Shinichi's relative, and he's in grade school."

' _Grade school?'_ Aoko thought, remembering the phone call she made to Shinichi after learning about Kaito's break-up. _'It was a child who answered his phone… And the one who asked him who he was talking to in the background… It was Ran's voice, right?'_

The dots in her mind were starting to connect as Ran told her stories about how he started living with her and so on. "Heeh, you sound like you're fond of him, huh?" Aoko said with a smile. "Yeah, I guess so… But listen here, he's always unable to see where he is until danger is right behind him."

"Eh?"

"Well, he likes to play detective, probably Shinichi's influence," the last part she mumbled before continuing, "and he tends to run off and try to capture the bad guys himself… Really, he worries me a lot!" Ran ended with a huff. "Hoooh…"

"Aoko, next time you come, I'll introduce you to him. How about that?" Ran offered with a giggle. "He sounds like an interesting kid… I'd love to meet him!" Aoko said, beaming. She may not be one to love kids, but this 'Conan-kun' sounded different from other annoying children. For one, he sounds almost like Shinichi.

* * *

Following the child-detective everywhere wasn't getting him anywhere, he concluded far before, but he had a feeling that he had to keep on watching him. His sureness of 'Edogawa Conan' being 'Kudou Shinichi' had been confirmed far before, and they'd become friends of sorts.

It was probably because stalking his detective was something he liked to do before they dated, so the habit was coming back to him now. Besides, it helped him practice changing disguises and be as stealthy as possible when in close proximity to the child.

Conan seemed to notice him but unable to find him anyways, so he at least knew that he was being stalked. He wasn't in disguise at the moment, not exactly. His jacket was one that he wore only when he wanted to have quick access to his magic props, and with a wide variety at that.

He was about to change into a disguise, when a hand made him flinch. "What are you doing?" the owner of the hand said, and Kaito's practiced poker face came, making him look calm, as if he were waiting for someone all this time. "Ahoko! You're gonna give me a heart attack one day, for god's sake!" Kaito said, sort of annoyed.

"Well, you seemed to be stalking someone. I was suspicious, though. I mean, from Ran-san's story, Kudou-san shouldn't even be in Japan right now, so I wondered who you were stalking," Aoko said with a confused look. "Well—"

"Nakamori-san?" a sweet child's voice called, his eyes recognizing the daughter of the police he sometimes had to lead so that he could capture the thief. It took a moment for Aoko to recognize the boy. "Oh, Conan-kun!" she said, happy. "It's nice to see you here!"

The child was cute, his eyes sharp, yet in her eyes, seemed innocent, despite the murder cases he'd seen countless times, according to Ran. Without the glasses, he might even look exactly like a younger version of Shinichi.

"You were meeting Mouri-chan, Ahoko?" Kaito asked, a little bit surprised. He hadn't seen this coming. Had he been so preoccupied with the little detective that he'd sort of neglected his civilian life? Was that the reason for the confused looks his classmates gave him when he came back to school after stalking him?

"You didn't know, Bakaito?" Aoko said, very sure that she'd told him yesterday about her plans today. "Ah, sorry… My mind wasn't in the right place…" Kaito said sheepishly. Conan watched the two of them, trying to determine who had been his stalker.

Aoko might not be an option that is after he'd confirmed it with Ran. Kaito seemed to be the more suspicious one. His head throbbed a little, and he ignored the pain. He found himself thinking about going to the hospital later, but shook his head, dismissing the idea.

"Ah, sorry Conan-kun, let me introduce you, this is Kaito. Kur—"

"Call me 'Kai'," Kaito said, his words cutting Aoko's. "That's not nice, Bakaito," Aoko said. Ignoring her statement, he said, "Nice to meet you, _Conan-kun,_ " with an emphasis. Aoko eyed the magician, confused by the change in his usually calm and collected demeanor.

"Same here," Conan said childishly, suspicion rising within him. A mischievous grin spread across his face, and he kneeled in front of the detective. "Conan-kun, do you know who I am?"

After a suspicious look from Conan, he said, "A magician." Aoko's eyes went wide. "How did you know that?"

"Well, for starters, Kai-nii-chan's jacket seem to be able to house many things underneath it, and seeing the glitter on his shirt, he must have at least something inside. Plus, his hands are calloused and seem to be unable to stop moving, so I bet that he's trained to do many continuous things simultaneously, like a magician," he reasoned.

"That's right," Kaito said, conjuring a rose out of nowhere. "Looks like Ran-san wasn't lying when she said that you seem to know more about a person with one glance…" Aoko said, amazed. Upon accepting the rose, Conan's breath caught.

' _What's this feeling?'_ he thought, a dull throb on the back of his head coming into his attention once more. _'It's like… Receiving roses had always been a norm… It feel so familiar…'_ Conan smiled at them and excuse himself to get back to the Agency, seeing that it was almost dark soon.

Yep. Conan decided that going to a doctor might be safest, for now. The throb subdued a little once he was back at the Mouri Agency, with Ran setting the table for dinner.

* * *

"Hmm," the doctor said towards Agasa, looking at the notes in his hand. Haibara watched him closely, seeing how Conan spoke about how his condition was. _'Could it be due to the impact Gin inflicted on him?'_ she thought.

It _was_ a hard enough impact, to make a teenage Shinichi to lose consciousness. When Conan had pointed at where he was hit, the possibility of a small portion of memory loss was average to high. He might even had a concussion, but seeing that it was only a minor memory loss, she shrugged it off, seeing no evident threat.

"You're lucky you didn't die," Haibara said for the nth time, making Conan look at her, always. "What's this about?"

"Nothing," she said, a smirk on her face. "So, how did you know that your head starts hurting and the possibility of memory loss?" she asked after a while, genuinely curious. Conan seemed to choose his words carefully before starting his story about the night where he shrunk, and when Aoko had called him, and the night of the heist, where the pain started.

"So he asked your name and it felt… _wrong,_ for some reason?" Haibara asked, an eyebrow raised. Conan's blush was cute, at least in her mind, and she felt the need to tease him. "So, you wanted him to call you Conan-kun? Or rather," her eyes glinted in a way which made Conan feel as if she knew more than she lets out.

"Would you rather he call you Kudou-kun?" she asked. Imagining KID calling him 'Kudou-kun' wasn't what he'd call right either. For some reason, he felt as if he should call him by his given name. Heck he'd even let him call him 'Shin-chan', the way his mother called him.

' _Eh?'_ Conan thought, snapping out of his earlier thoughts, _'Why did I think that?'_ Conan's blush made Haibara smile. "I suppose that you have some sort relationship with KID once before," the small scientist stated, voicing her thoughts.

"… What sort of relationship would a detective and a thief make?" Conan said, unimpressed, but his head throbbed. _'… She's probably right…'_ he thought. _'If she were wrong, then my head won't throb like that…'_

Head throbbing had easily been connected to returning of memories, since he'd heard about the slight memory loss, he realized. Now, what did the head throb on Kai's appearance have to do with his memory? He wondered.

* * *

One morning, Conan found a surprise in the Office, which was Kai and Aoko sitting in front of Ran, drinks served on the table. Kogoro was out, probably at the station with Megure. And Ran was smiling, calling him and gesturing so that he would come over and sit beside her, right across Kai.

"Aoko-chan, this is Edogawa Conan-kun," Ran said fondly. "Oh, you're that kid from before!" Aoko said, happy. "I knew it! I knew from first glance that you're the 'Conan' Ran referred to!"

"Eh? You guys know each other?" Ran asked. "Yeah, sometimes, he comes to my dad's office to help out with KID heists! I didn't realize that Ran-san was talking about you!"

"Yeah… We also met the other day," Kai said, receiving an accusing glare from the boy. Now he was sure that the child detective knew that it was him who stalked him, and he gave him a mischievous grin in return. He didn't feel any guilt from stalking him anyways.

As the two girls chatted happily, the thief and detective had a somewhat silent, almost telepathic chat of their own.

C: "So why were you stalking me?"

K: "Isn't that obvious?"

C: "… How obvious should it be?"

Conan fidgeted, worrying a little bit. He didn't know why though.

K: "As obvious as those nights we spent together."

He grinned. Conan frowned.

C: "What nights?"

K: "It's a secret~"

With Kai grinning and Conan frowning, they all went out for a walk. "Those two really like to talk, huh?" Kai said, his grin still intact. "I suppose," Conan said, shrugging. "… I feel like Sherlock Holmes for some reason," Kai said, knowing exactly what the child's reaction should be.

"Why?"

"Just cause… I mean, walking like this with you? I feel that you're like Watson who watches my every move," he said teasingly. "What?! You're the one who's older than me! You're supposed to be Watson!"

They fought about deciding roles on which who should be Sherlock and who should be Watson, and their conversation ended up to how helium could also be used for things other than balloon fillers. Ran and Aoko had stopped their talk to watch the closeness of the other pair, smiling at each other as they started warring on how solar energy should be used.

"For a kid, he's holding such an intelligent conversation with someone like Kaito, huh?" she stated, a confused "huh?" came from Ran. "I mean, see here? They're talking about stuff we haven't even learned in school! Even I didn't know that Kaito could talk about stuff like that."

Ran nodded, a sad smile on her face. "Yeah…" was her only reply. Aoko knew that the boy reminded her of Shinichi was too much, and it felt weirdly uncomfortable for her to see that. She cleared her throat and winked at her, "How about we leave that pair to themselves, and we go have ice cream or something?"

Ran looked dumbfounded as Aoko dragged her away. The two didn't notice.

They stopped their words war when they came to an agreement that coffee is better when mildly sweet, although Kaito grumbled about how the sweeter the coffee, the better. "Huh? Where's Ran-nee-chan and Nakamori-san?" Conan asked, confused.

"Well, I guess it's just the two of us then," Kai grinned, happy. Throwing him an unimpressed look, Conan said, "They're probably off to some ice cream or something."

"Well, for your information, I was surprised that you didn't notice them walking away just like that," he said in a mocking tone which set the Shinichi inside him off. "Well, see here—"

His phone rang, and he looked at the caller info; Haibara Ai. "It's Haibara…" Conan said, excusing himself to answer the call. "Yeah?"

"Kudou-kun," she said, tense and grim. The tone made him let out his serious voice, "What is it?"

He knew by now that the only times Haibara would call him 'Kudou-kun' was when there was some sort of immediate urgency happening. "Ayumi… she's…"

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's disappeared. Genta-kun, Mitsuhiko-kun and I are searching for her at this moment. We're at the park near your house. By house, the Kudou Manor."

"Alright, I'll be there."

He clicked the phone off and looked sharply at Kaito. "Sorry, I gotta go."

"Your friend's in danger?" he asked, knowing that tone all too well. "Yeah," he said, a shadow casting over his face. "I'm afraid that the recent child kidnappings are happening again…"

"I thought you guys captured them?" he asked, looking at Conan for elaboration. Conan shook his head. "Not all of them."

"Let me help," Kaito said, firm and determined. "Huh?"

"It's better to have more people search, right?" Conan nodded, a smile on his face. "Alright."

"What's your friend like?" he asked. Taking out his phone, Conan showed him a picture of Ayumi in his phone, one taken when they were at a museum together. "This girl's name is Ayumi. The others are Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Haibara."

"Alright. Let's go," Kai said, dead serious. Conan nodded and led the way to where they last saw Ayumi.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Aww… I didn't want Ayumi to be kidnapped… She's too innocent for that! Birra Castello is a random beer name I found on the internet, by the way... No, I'm not fond of drinking, thank you very much.**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N**_

 _ **I'm lovin' the song**_ **Irresistible** _ **by Fall Out Boy (feat. Demi Lovato)… Oh, right, warnings on kidnapping stuff and well, yeah. I don't know how to put warnings, but yeah. Enjoy~**_

Ran and Aoko were sitting somewhere, in a café, that's for sure, talking about random stuff. "Eh?" Ran said, noticing Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Haibara together, their faces serious, their eyes searching. "What is it Ran?"

"It's Conan's friends…" Ran said and stood. "Genta-kun! Mitsuhiko-kun! Haibara-chan!" she called, waving her hand. Haibara was on the phone, and Genta noticed her. "Ah! It's Ran-nee-chan!" he said. Haibara turned her phone off, cutting the connection between her and Conan.

They all ran towards her. "Ran-nee-chan," Haibara said, her tone filled with such an urgency that made Ran immediately alert. She then explained the situation, and Ran and Aoko made a silent agreement to help them find the girl.

* * *

' _Best chances are, if they're kidnapping a girl her age, is that they use the alleyways and deserted places… Or extremely crowded places… No, that's not gonna get us anywhere…'_ Kaito cursed as he ran through an alleyway—a shortcut, Conan said, to where Haibara was.

Turning right, left, go straight, through another big road place, enter another alleyway, and—

Conan's yelp and a thud made him stop. They'd ran into someone, a person in black, behind him, two guys, one holding Ayumi, the other had a knife in hand. "Oh shi—" he heard Conan say, before he got kicked in the stomach by the black-clad man, making him curl in pain.

Kaito kneeled beside him, a hand over the hand that clutched his stomach. Seeing his little detective's face scrunched in pain, he growled at the black-clad man. He somewhat reminded him of Snake, but that can't be, right?

But he learnt far before to trust his instincts more than his logic, his logic more than other people. Conan uncurled and got up, taking a sharp breath as something in him pained him. "You bastard…" he said, breathing heavily.

The 'bastard' smiled, the cold kind, as if he loved the resistance Conan was putting forth. With a jerk of his head, the guy who had a knife in hand lunged forward, his face one of fear. "He doesn't want to kill us," Conan whispered, audible only to Kaito.

Nodding, Kaito got into a fighting stance, and Conan prepared himself to lounge past the man, onto the black-clad man. Kaito dodged the knife and took the man by the wrist, punching his solar plexus, miking him faint.

Conan, as he'd planned earlier, lounged for the man in black, hugging him by the waist and pushing him down. He felt something hard and cold on his cheek, and realized too late what it was; a stun gun. That must've been what knocked Ayumi out. And it was the thing that would knock him out.

' _I won't let you!'_ he thought, gritting his teeth. "Kaito!" he said, not realizing that he called him by his first name. Heck, Kaito only told him that his name is 'Kai'. Somewhere in his heart, he hoped that it was a sign that Conan—Shinichi was starting to remember him and their relationship.

But he pushed away that hope for now and helped Conan with pinning down the black-clad man. "You idiot, go save Ayumi!" he hissed and the last forgotten man had ran a little bit further from them, Ayumi in his arms, unconscious.

Kaito ran towards the man, his feet faster than the man's. In a matter of minutes, he'd caught the man, twisted his arm, and freed Ayumi. The next thing he knew was the feeling of something prickling at the back of his neck, and his whole body went numb.

One of his smoke bombs activated from him crashing to the ground, and the next thing he knew was darkness.

* * *

Haibara was the first one to notice the white smoke amongst the clear day's clouds. It had a tint of pink and yellow, certainly _not_ the usual cloud that passes by overhead occasionally. She had a hunch, though. And she motioned the others to follow her. She called Ran, just to be sure.

Arriving at the alleyway, she saw two figures lying on the ground, and dreaded for the worst possible scene. One man had a knife on his back, his eyes filled with surprise and terror. The other was simply unconscious, a broken shell right beside his arm and some sort of bruise—one a stun gun would make—on the back of his neck.

"O-oi… Is he dead?" Genta asked, fear in his voice. "That one is. This one's just unconscious," she replied coolly, but her tone still serious. A detective badge laid on the ground, further from where they were, and Haibara recognized it as Ayumi's. She then paled.

"Edogawa-kun!" she said and turned deeper into the alleyway, finding yet another dead body. The knife used to kill him should be the same knife used to kill the other man. Her eyes scanned the scene, searching for any indication that the perpetrator and Conan might still be around.

Rigor mortis hasn't settled in yet, despite the heat, so it must've been less than thirty minutes since he died. After a few moments, her eyes found it; Conan's voice-changing bow tie. Picking it up, she went back to the two others, worried for their safety.

And her worries paid off.

Just as she rounded up the corner, where she left the two boys, a man, clad in black held both Conan and Ayumi in his arms, both unconscious. "Move," he said, his voice reminding her of someone she used to know.

"Castello…" she said in a very, very quiet voice of fear and surprise. Unfortunately, he heard her and turned around, his cold eyes flickered with both recognition and struggle to remember where he'd seen her face.

He raised his gun towards her, meeting her teal, fierce gaze with a cold one. "Haibara-chan!" Ran said, appearing just in time. "Ran-san!" she said, surprise and fear clearly evident in her voice, "Get away!"

The man raised his eyebrow and narrowed his eyes. "You seem to know about us, young lady," he said and smirked, pulling the trigger and shooting, the bullet grazing her cheekbone. He then ran towards her, shooting his gun so that another bullet lodged itself into her shoulder.

"Haibara-san!" the others shouted, Ran charging as she told her "Don't—"

Another shot, this time grazing Ran's upper arm. He's bad at guns, that's for sure. But that made her stop, at least in between the man and Haibara, she stopped. He smirked and ran, faster and faster, despite having two unconscious children in his arms.

Unable to catch up with him, she stopped at the big road.

* * *

Haibara wouldn't talk. Not even if she were in the interrogation room. Her eyes were filled with horror, her head imagining the things _the_ Castello would do. She knew him, personally, as she'd watched him experiment on humans.

No, not just any human. Children and those whom he thought interesting. Taking Conan's personality into consideration, she just knew that when he felt like it, he'd be the first person in mind to torture.

And yet, she knew that he's the only one who can put the Black Org behind bars, nationally and internationally. And Gin and Vodka would be the first people captured.

"Haibara Ai-kun," Megure said, snapping her out of her trance. "We need your knowledge about who that was… Because according to the others, you seem to actually… know about this man."

Agasa placed a hand on her shoulder, giving Megure a stern look. But he couldn't say anything. At least, anything he knew which would blow her cover. Haibara sighed, her eyes glazed with tears, memories of her sister's death replaying in her head, but this time, she saw Conan's lifeless eyes, a dull shade of azure in the middle of milky whiteness of his sclera.

No. She won't let that happen. Never.

She opened her mouth. "I'll tell you everything," she said, her tone like one of an adult's, surprising both Megure and Agasa, for different reasons, "but promise me some things."

* * *

He opened his eyes slowly, his whole body felt weirdly numb. _'I was hit by a stun gun…'_ he thought, regaining control over his body. His focus became clear when he saw Ayumi beside him, sleeping with a duct tape on her mouth and a rope immobilizing her.

Memories from before came rushing in in perfect clarity. Kai running towards the person carrying Ayumi, his head getting hit (in the same place Gin hit him, apparently) and his eyes coming to a close. His ears picking up the sound of someone whimpering and a scream.

Then, silence. His body getting picked up, and he cracked open one eye to find the man's face so close to his, eyes showing a wild emotion despite his calm face. He weakly thrashed, a hand on his neck not quite suffocating him, yet he was off of the ground.

A spark of light caught his attention and his neck felt electrified. No, it was the bow tie, conducting electricity. He took it off immediately, his glare met the man's eyes. A prick on his hand blackened his vision, and now he woke up.

A hand went over his mouth, and he went still and closed his eyes, and the hand pulled off the duct tape from his mouth. "Boss, this guy's still unconscious," someone said, lifting him by the rope which immobilized him.

"Doesn't matter," the cold voice he'd registered before said, and he knew immediately that it was Castello. After laying him on some sort of altar, he presumed, judging from the hardness and coldness and the surface his finger felt, he felt eyes on him.

"No, you idiot," Castello said, a smirk clear in his voice, "he's just playing dead."

' _I was found out?!'_ he thought, panicked. He felt his glasses taken off, and he opened his eyes, just a crack. Castello was smiling in triumph, glad to see a sliver of those azure eyes. He turned around and took something which clattered in some sort of tray.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked, surprised by his voice which sounded odd. "Oh, nothing… Just that some experiments should do you some good, now won't it?" he said with a smirk. A syringe needle made its' way through his neck, pushing some sort of substance into the artery there.

"What—" he choked, eyes watering from the pain and his head throbbing, possibly from the hit he received in the alleyway. Pulling out the syringe, he saw that the tube was now empty, and he felt the need to puke.

"It's…" Castello said, awe evident in his voice, "it's a miracle!" Conan looked at him, confused and hazy. The thing must've done lots of things to a person. "You're still alive?!"

"Fairly—" he coughed out, "so…" His throat felt tight and raw. His lips felt dry, dryer than Sahara. Having lead as a body wasn't helping the situation at all, and all he could was glare in his hazy state. His ears picked up a small whine, not coming from his mouth, but from elsewhere.

His eyes landed onto Ayumi's eyes, wide and terrified. "Boy," Castello said, his tone sounded accusing, "do you know a drug called APTX 4869?" His eyes involuntarily went wide with recognition. "I thought so," he chuckled and picked him up gently, and Conan curled in disgust.

"So, what's your real age? Hm? I know for a fact that anyone who survives the drug would become a little kid… Like how Sherry turned out."

Conan's wide eyes flashed with anger, and he managed to choke out, "Why… Should I… Tell you?!"

"Hmm… Since you know of the drug's name, I suppose you also know someone named Sherry… Or better yet, Miyano Shiho?" Conan kept quiet, which Castello took for a 'yes'. "Well, if that's so," he said and took Ayumi by the hair.

"Let her go!" he said, his voice cracking. He hated it, but it's probably whatever drug it was was working on him. "I wonder about that," he said in a low purr. Ayumi was terrified, disgusted and terrified. She thrashed around trying to wiggle free, even if it meant that her head hurt from her hair getting torn.

"Quiet, girl!" he snarled in her ear. "Don't you dare hurt her any more than that!" Conan shouted, a snarl evident despite his weak voice. But he felt that he was getting stronger. Probably adrenaline rushing through his veins.

Her duct tape was peeled off rather harshly, making her yelp. "Conan-kun…" she whimpered. "Conan-kun, huh? That's your name?" Castello said, a smug smirk on his face. "Well, let me tell you something, _Conan-kun…_ I'm quite a curious man, of you haven't noticed… And what I'm asking you is what your true identity is… Or was, for this matter," he chuckled.

"Why would you care who I was?" he asked defiantly. "Well," he said in a somewhat happy tone, "whoever you were, it depends on your answer… If you're one of… Gin's mistakes… Then I'd be happy to keep you alive… and the girl too, I suppose…"

Conan gritted his teeth. "You're a sick bastard, Castello," he said. Castello's eyes went wide, with happiness. "You knew who I was from the start, huh? Or probably… you're Silver Bullet Vermouth talks about so highly these days? Hmm?"

' _Shit, that was a wrong move…'_ he thought as the man laid Ayumi in Conan's laps. "Conan-kun, are you alright?" she asked him, and he gave her a gentle smile and a small nod. It wouldn't do good for her to be terrified in a place like this.

Castello leaned back, onto the altar, watching them closely. Conan met his eyes with his determined ones. "You're right about one thing," he said with confidence. The man raised an eyebrow. "I _am_ one of Gin's mistakes."

Ayumi gasped and tensed, not knowing who they were talking about, but knew from how the conversation carried on before, that this Gin person is a bad person. "I thought so!" Castello said happily. "I take it that you're Kudou Shinichi and that girl over there to be Sherry, huh?" he said and came closer.

"But… Sherry-kun, you look different… Where did your beautiful perms go?" he asked, stroking Ayumi's hair gently, making her lean into Conan even more. "She's not her," he said with such firmness that made the two look at him.

Squinting, Castello tried to see through any lies in the boy's words. Finding none, he rose, "I suppose not." He then turned, opening the door and letting someone in, saying something to him which Conan couldn't hear, except for the last word; basement.

Charlie looked at them, seemingly conflicted, yet he complied anyways. He carefully picked up the two children and went downstairs. Down, down, down, until they arrived at the basement. It was dark and empty. A light bulb hung from the ceiling, lighting up the room just a little bit, and Conan identified some air vents in the dim light.

If his eyes weren't as sharp, he would've missed them.

"Are you guys alright?" Charlie asked gently, his eyes searching for any external injuries. He was genuinely worried for them, so Conan switched from his adult tone into one of a child's. "We're fine," he said.

"I'm gonna untie these ropes, alright? Promise me that you won't take the chance and run away?" he said, fear clear in his face and voice. Ayumi shook her head, tears of fear in her eyes. Conan nodded childishly and said, "Okay."

Untying his ropes first, Charlie put a shackle on his foot, one that connected to the wall. He did Ayumi's next, who protested and thrashed around before he was done. Then, he left, telling them that he'll bring food in an hour or so and closed the door.

Conan's smile immediately vanished, turning his face into a serious expression. Ayumi looked around frantically, searching for an escape. Conan put a hand on hers, pulling her into a calming embrace. "It's alright," he crooned, "it's alright…"

* * *

Kaito woke up in the hospital, Aoko sitting in the chair beside his bed. Tears streamed down her face, and he felt sore all over. "Ahoko, what's with that face?" Kaito said in a joking manner. "You…" she sobbed. "You… BAKAITO!"

"E-eh?"

"I can't believe you let yourself go ahead and get knocked out, and get some drugs pumped into your system, and… And…" she wiped a tear away. "And worry me like that…" she said in a quiet voice. He put a hand on her face, wiping another tear away.

"Sorry," he said gently. He then looked around. No one else was in there. "Hey, Aoko, where's Conan-kun?" he asked, dread filling his every being before she even answered. She didn't answer anyways. Ran walked in with a solemn face and doctors behind her.

In the middle of those white coated doctors, a smaller girl was in the middle of them, her face serious. "He and Ayumi-chan was taken," she said coolly, sternly. At that, Kaito paled. "Then—I—"

"Not so fast," the young girl stopped him, motioning so that a doctor gave her a syringe with a yellowish liquid within. "We need you neutralized first."

Aoko and Ran looked at her in twin confusion. She shrugged and tested the needle first before getting up and reaching for his neck. She cursed under her breath before sinking the needle into him, pushing in the liquid, making him wince at the feeling.

"You better be grateful that he didn't give you an overdose like he usually would," she said and gave one of the doctors the syringe. She then said something to both Ran and Aoko, making everyone go away, leaving them alone.

"Greetings, Kai-san," she said, making the addressed man tense. "I'm Haibara Ai, a classmate of Edogawa Conan's. He spoke fondly of you, you know?" she said with a smirk, despite the situation. Kaito's heart soared in happiness before he got it back and chose to focus.

"And?" he asked, urging her to go on. "And I need your help."

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Should this stay as a T-rated thing? I mean, for one thing, the theme used in this story is sort of… Eh. You know? I'm doing my best to tone down the gore though, so if you're a little bit bothered, then I apologize. Well, see you next chapter~**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N**_

 _ **Heya there~ Here's another chapter on Heartbreak~ It's getting a bit dark here, so… Yeah? Please do enjoy~**_

As usual, Charlie put the tray of food in front of Conan, but not in front of Ayumi. He smiled at them both before leaving. He knew that earlier, Conan had suffered another session with Castello, who was trying to get more info on deaging.

He gave some food to Ayumi and watched her eat it slowly. "Conan-kun, are you really alright?" she asked, looking at him worriedly. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he said lightly, but truthfully, he felt lightheaded. "Really?" she asked, not buying his lie. "I told you, I'm fine," he waved it off. "Now eat."

He had been eyeing the vent above him. Too far for one of them to reach, but if he let Ayumi use his shoulders, then at least she's be able to escape. _'Now to think about how to unlock these shackles,'_ he thought, eyeing the locks on the said shackles.

Ayumi followed his gaze and got an idea. "Conan-kun, Conan-kun," she said with a cheer in her voice, somewhat lightening up Conan's mood. "What is it?"

"How about we ask Charlie-san for these shackles?" she said hopeful. "If that happens, then we should've been able to escape long ago," Conan said with an amused look. "No, no, I mean, he favors you, right?"

Conan gave her a skeptical look, which she returned with a huff.

"Don't you notice? He keeps putting the food tray in your reach rather than mine, and he keeps smiling only when you're in here!" she said, as if pointing out something obvious. It probably was, had Conan not been so dense.

"That could be…" _but I don't trust him, despite his attempts to get to our good side… Then again, why would he want to get to our good side?_ Conan's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Charlie walked in.

"Charlie-san," Ayumi called, hostility hinted in her tone. "What," he said rather coldly. Ayumi then explained to him her plan to escape.

"Why tell me?" he asked once she was done, and Conan unable to stop her. "Because I know that you _will_ help because you _want_ to," she said indignantly. Charlie raised an eyebrow, and for the first time, smiled at her. "You're right," he said and took out a ring of keys.

Conan eyed him in suspicion. It was easy, too easy, he thought, but first things first, get Ayumi out of this mess. He didn't want to soil the innocent girl's mind any more than this whole fiasco already had. He unlocked the shackles on her foot and raised her so that she reached the air vent and she pulled it off, entering the tunnel of sorts.

"Ayumi-chan, you go ahead and get help. Try to stay unseen, alright?" Conan said, hope igniting in his chest. "Okay. What about you, Conan-kun?" came her echoed reply. "He can't go," Charlie said, his face unreadable.

"If he goes, then you both will be found. Castello is somewhat… fond of him, you see."

"Just go and get help, okay?" Conan said, ignoring the fact that he felt somewhat insecure being alone with Charlie and Castello. As far as he knew, there were no other children present. At least not that he knew of.

After hearing her crawl away, Conan heaved a relieved sigh and leaned onto the wall, letting his tiredness show through. Charlie smirked. "Self-sacrifice, eh?" he said. Conan shook his head and closed his eyes.

* * *

"We're close," Haibara said, leading Ran, Kaito, Agasa, and a group from Division One. She was wearing the spare glasses, the tracking function turned on.

"Th-this is…" Haibara said when they came upon a white building, slightly blackened from lack of care. The windows were slightly milky white, and here and there had cracks all over. "What is it, ojou-san?" Kaito asked when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"… Everyone present has a gun, right?" she asked Megure, ignoring the magician. "We should have one, at least," he confirmed. She nodded and then turned to Kaito.

"Kai-nii-san," she said quietly, motioning for him to come with her. "Megure-keibu, whatever happens, please don't recklessly shoot."

"W-why?" he asked, worried by her serious tone.

"If I remember correctly, this place's rigged with bombs that would activate from contact with gun powder. If possible, I'd like to avoid blowing up the place," she said, scanning the building. "Ah," she said and dragged Kaito by the hand.

They'd been planning on this for hours in Kaito's hospital room, Haibara being the head planner, of course. At first, Kaito wanted to come with them and they'd said no, but after telling them his abilities as a magician, Haibara hesitantly accepted him.

"Ai-chan!" a small voice called her when she went into view. "Are you alright?" Haibara asked, opening the air way for her and letting her hug her, hugging her back even, before asking, "Where's Edogawa-kun?"

"Conan-kun… He told me to go and get help," Ayumi said with tears in her eyes. Haibara's eyes traveled all over her small body, trying to locate any external injuries. Thankfully, there were none. "Where is he?"

"With Charlie-san, probably… But his next session with the scary guy is near…" she said between sobs. "Young lady," Kaito said, his voice calming, "where did you lasts see Conan-kun?"

"Err… the basement…"

Haibara sighed in relief. "At least that place's not rigged…" she said and guided the sobbing girl into Ran's arms. Kaito and Haibara went back to the front door, telling Megure that if they need any help, they'll tell him via the detective badge she lent him.

Cautiously, they went inside. "What floor?" Kaito asked, eyeing her glasses. "Top floor," she said and they went for the stairs.

They arrived at an empty room, where Conan's glasses lay on the floor, collecting dust. She clicked her tongue. "He's not wearing glasses," he stated, taking the words out of her mouth. "How about the basement?" she asked, and off they went to the basement.

In the hallway, as they were running for the stairs, a door opened, revealing a man, his face spotted with fresh blood. Haibara gasped. The man smiled, a creepy smile, Kaito noted. "Sherry-chan, I assume?" he said with blood lust.

Kaito glanced at her fearful face and saw her compose herself, and asked, "What did you do to the boy?"

"The boy? Oh, probably some checks on your drug," he said, a smile clear in his voice. "He's quite… interesting, don't you think?"

"Don't tell me…"

"Oh, no worries… I didn't kill him _that_ fast… I'd be sad if he died anyways," he smirked. Evil, Kaito thought grimly. He then took out a gun and pointed it at Haibara.

"A newbie like you shouldn't do that," she said, somehow keeping her cool. Kaito whistled in his head, impressed. "What do you know, brat?!" he said and grinned maniacally. _'He doesn't know that this place is rigged with bombs…'_ she thought, _'and even if I told him, he'd shoot… No, he'd be more than happy to shoot and burn this place down…'_

She clicked her tongue and took Kaito's hand, dragging him towards another set of stairs. "Where are you going, Sherry-chan?" he cackled, and Kaito heard a faint click amidst their thundering footsteps. _'A door…?'_ he thought and pulled Haibara into a princess carry, hiding behind a door.

"Sherry-chan~" Castello said with glee, swinging his gun dangerously. "Boss," another voice said, and he could literally hear the annoyed glare Castello shot the man. "What is it, Charlie?!" he barked.

"No—I just heard… lots of footsteps… I thought there were some… rats running about," he said with a cold chuckle. "I see… How's the boy faring?" Castello asked somewhat gleefully. "Asleep. But still, Boss, you shouldn't do that kind of things to his body…"

"If you want him, then go ahead. Leave my marks alone," he said coldly. "You know, I don't fancy touching a body that has marks all over them," he chided. "You only like them young and small," Castello hissed, "what do you care about that boy's body when you know that he's probably Kudou Shinichi in a deaged form?"

They could hear a growl, probably from Kaito, probably from Charlie, but they couldn't tell. "He's not tarnished yet, I suppose…" Charlie said. "At least I haven't seen _that_ part of him yet…"

"Even after all this time?" a cackle. "I love obedient kids, you know?" he said and then, a grunt and an explosion. _'Wh-what was that?!'_ both Kaito and Haibara thought. Cautiously, they opened the door to find fire, everywhere, and a figure in the middle of it, discarding what seemed to be a silencer.

"Sheesh, no taste at all, that old man," he said dismissively. Then, there was another explosion, right behind them, and the next thing they knew, Charlie wasn't there anymore. Swiftly taking Haibara's badge, he called Megure.

"Megure-keibu," he said urgently once he received a reply. "What was that explosion just now?!" he demanded, but he ignored it, saying, "I'm throwing ojou-san over here out the window. Can you catch her?"

Haibara gasped. "What do you think—"

Opening the window, Kaito immediately spotted Megure and threw her towards him, making sure that he caught her safely. It was the third floor, after all. "Kai-san!" Haibara called from outside, but he was already making his way downstairs, following Charlie.

* * *

Conan suddenly awoke to the sound of explosions and the ground shaking rather violently. "W-what the—"

A huge chunk of the ceiling fell and landed on the shackles' chain, freeing him. He didn't think twice, and took the chance to hide behind the door, despite his vision starting to blacken due to his lightheadedness.

Then, there was another gunshot, and another explosion, making the door open by the explosive force. It also made the wall a little bit loose, and Conan chose to stay, just in case Charlie or Castello suddenly appeared in the doorway.

Charlie did appear, though, immediately collapsing onto the ground on his back. "Conan-kun?!" a familiar voice called. "Kai-nii-chan?!" Conan said, surprised. Clear azure eyes met indigo ones, and with a sigh of relief, Conan walked towards him.

He flinched when he heard a growl come from him once he saw the magician. Seeing his reaction, Kaito immediately stopped his growl and scooped him up into a princess carry. Only then did Conan notice that his shirt was opened, and revealed the red dots that Castello gave him from all those needle entering his body.

Going up one flight of stairs, towards ground level, Kaito dashed through the front door, as another explosion propelled them forward.

* * *

"A few dead bodies were found," Megure told the small scientist. Haibara looked at him knowingly, anticipating some news like that from the investigations. Megure sighed. "Are you sure you don't want to get shelter from us?"

"No. If I did that, then they'd get more suspicious as to who I am," she replied calmly. She told Megure everything, omitting Shinichi's involvement, and made him vow to never, ever, tell anyone about the secret. Because if he did, then he'll be risking more than his own life.

Megure nodded and sighed. He still couldn't believe someone could deage, and yet, he couldn't deny the evidence the young girl had shown.

Haibara then excused herself, and went with Agasa to the hospital.

* * *

It was midnight, way past midnight. Yet he couldn't sleep at all. Kaito had volunteered to watch over Conan and Ayumi in the hospital after visiting hours had ended. The next day would be Ran's turn, but for tonight, he was content to just watch over his little detective.

"Hey, Conan-kun?" Ayumi called, thinking that the magician was asleep. A small hum was her reply. "Did that man… mean what he said? About you being Shinichi-nii-chan?" she asked worriedly. Conan was silent, contemplating his possible answers.

Finally, he sighed. "If I told you I am, you wouldn't believe me," Conan said and gave her a small smile. "You should sleep. You look horrible."

"But… Conan-kun… What about that Sherry person?" she was both curious and worried. He could see it in her eyes. But he shook his head. "He was just being delusional. I don't know who that Sherry person was, but to think he had such an imagination to think that I'm the shrunken version of Shinichi-nii-chan…"

He felt bad for lying, but if he risked her life just because she knew of his real identity… He wouldn't risk it. Not if it meant that everyone around him will die. He glanced over the magician, and felt his head throb.

" _How about we go out and fly tonight?"_

He blinked. _'What? What was that?'_ he thought. After a few minutes of thinking, he gave in and slept, deciding that he was just too tired, and that was probably a fragment of the memory he lost. _'I hope I remember soon…'_

He did not notice the sliver glint of indigo which watched his surprised expression and head shake. A hand that subconsciously went up to his head made those eyes' owner's heart leap, hoping that it meant something good.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Is this shorter than usual? Yes it is. About 1k words shorter than usual. But it's alright. Right? So, what did you think? I'm bad at action stuff, so I couldn't make it more exhilarating, so… sorry? Eh. See you next chapter~**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N**_

 _ **Is it a bit too early for me to go ahead and post another chapter? Answer; No, no it's not. So here is the next chapter!**_

"He didn't do anything to you, did he?" Haibara asked him, who questioned her with a "Huh?" They were at the Agasa Residence, and the two shrunken teens were just chilling. Refilling her tea, Haibara looked at him. "That Charlie guy," she said and cocked her head to the side.

"Ah… Him. He didn't do anything bad to me," Conan said, a smile on his face. "The only damage I got was from Castello. He kept going on and on and on about me being Kudou Shinichi and me knowing you."

Haibara let out a hum. "Oh, and I heard from Megure-keibu that he… also suspects me because I'm really close to you. Could you please elaborate what he meant by that?"

Haibara looked at him over her small glass and set it down. "Let's just say that he knows more than he should now that he'd come into contact with one of the Organization members," she concluded. Conan gave her an unimpressed look.

' _I guess that's her version of Need Not to Know, huh?'_ Conan mused. "More importantly," Haibara said, taking out some papers. "What is it? Is the antidote finished?" Conan asked, hopeful. "No," she deadpanned, "but I got a letter from Mister Kaitou KID, yours truly."

Conan grumbled something before reading the papers she lent him. It was a heist notice and some pictures of the next target. "Oi, oi, are you saying that you dug into some info?" he asked, spreading the papers on the table. "Why would I? It's your job to crack his silly riddles," she said and set down her tea cup.

"Huh…" Conan said and went back to looking at the pictures. It was a light coloured sapphire, which was rare, carved into an intricately made necklace. There was a picture of his mother wearing it in one of the papers.

"How the heck did he get my mom's picture?" Conan mumbled as he immediately started cracking the riddle.

* * *

Kaito was at school, cleverly avoiding Hakuba's rants about him hating blonds and the sick rainbow colours and glitter he used just a few minutes ago on the said detective. No, it wasn't a sickly colour. It was a beautiful one. _'But I guess, it doesn't matter to ol' lil' Hakuba-kun,'_ he mused.

"Kuroba-kun!" Hakuba called and stopped because Aoko suddenly came up behind him and hit his head with a hard cover book. "Hakuba! Stop pestering him! He's been through rough times, you know?" she said, pouting.

Hakuba shrugged. "It doesn't change the fact that he painted my hair into a glittering rainbow!" he huffed. "Those stuff would probably only last for one day!" Aoko told him. Kaito held up three fingers and gave them a sidelong look.

"Three weeks, at least," he said.

Later that day, Kaito was more than giddy. He couldn't wait until he could see his little detective again. Kaito knocked on the door to the Mouri Agency Office to find Ran inside and Kogoro watching Okino Yoko or something. "Ah, Kuroba-kun!" Ran said from the kitchen-like space.

"Hello, Mouri-chan," he said with a wide grin. "Is Conan here?"

"Ah, he said that he'll be staying at Agasa's tonight," she said apologetically. "Ah, I see. It's the one next to Kudou Manor, right?" Kaito said with a wide grin, hiding his disappointment. Ran nodded. "Should I call him in advance? To tell them that you're gonna go visit?"

"No need to bother. I came here on an impulse anyway," he said before leaving once again. Sneaking his way into the professor's house, he found his little detective asleep on the couch, papers fluttering on the floor underneath him.

Curious, he picked up the papers and smirked. "My, my, Kai-nii-san is being a petty little thief, smiling at the boy he admires," came a nonchalant voice that startled him. He didn't even sense the scientist's presence on the couch across the one Conan slept on.

"Ojou-san…" Kaito said, face slightly pink in embarrassment. "Since when were you—?!"

"Since you started walking towards the window and opened it easily as if there were no systems rigged in there," she said, flipping through her magazine, sipping her tea. She didn't even need to look up to see who the intruder was.

"Well, I'd understand if you'd wanted to come in and take him away. I can't really stand seeing him sleep on the couch peacefully like that," she said, finally looking up her magazine. "I'd rather put him to bed, but I'm just a kid."

' _She's definitely hinting on something there,'_ Kaito mused, eyeing her every move. She sipped her tea before saying, "What're you waiting for?"

"Eh?"

"Take him to the Kudou Manor before he wakes up. I've been telling him to rest up, but he won't listen. Lock him up in there if you have to," she said nonchalantly, which made Kaito wonder. Then again, she probably knew that her cover was blown since the incident with Castello.

He gave her one of his widest KID grins and gently scooped up the detective and picked up the papers. "Well then, ojou-san, I shall be leaving with my princess… Until we meet again," he bowed deeply and walked towards the front door.

Haibara smirked, and closed the magazine once the magician was out. She took the tray which had Conan's tea cup and disposed of the pack saying 'sugar', smiling when she remembered that he didn't eve suspect a thing.

In truth, that pack didn't have sugar in it.

"Now, Kai-nii-san," she muttered to herself. "I wonder if you'll forgive me for giving sleeping powder on him?"

* * *

He could feel it in the back of his head, nudging him in his sleep. It felt familiar. Being in the solid warmth felt undeniably familiar. He felt himself say something, but couldn't place what it was that he mumbled. Then there was the shaking—the rocking—and that melody.

A melody he knew his mom would sing to him, as she spoke with another man.

Was that his dad? Upon closer inspection, he didn't feel that to be his dad, but he felt that, judging by the way his mother spoke to him, the man was someone she knew very well. He felt the man say something, and his mother giggle at what he said.

And then he heard his father coming into the space and said something… And he could feel himself wake up.

Fabric was the first thing he saw. Fabric, a warm hand on his body, and the familiar softness of his bed in Kudou Manor. He was surprised to see Kaito in the bed with him, a hand keeping him from moving away. "Kai-nii-san?!" he half-whispered.

"What is it, Conan-kun?" he asked, sounding drowsy. "What are _you_ doing here?!" he asked, still half-whispering. "I'm having a sleepover. Now would you please be quiet and sleep?"

' _How can I sleep in the same bed as a guy in my own bed?!'_ Conan thought, furious. But he felt as if it were something the two naturally and occasionally do. There was another grunt and Kaito shifted his position so that Conan's hair would touch his lips, how he'd do it after they had intense intercourse. Conan blushed.

Then, he started humming. "A lullaby? Really?" he said with an eye-roll, yet he didn't stop. His head throbbed and he couldn't tell if it was from the closeness with the magician, or if it was from the melody, or from his tiredness.

" _It's a song my mom used to sing to me."_

It came harder than he was used to, and he winced at the pain it brought him. A hand went on to the place where it throbbed most painfully, and he found himself snuggling into the magician. The vibration his chest made when he was singing was comforting to him, and he slowly went back to sleep.

"Sleep well, Tantei-kun," Kaito said when he finally noticed that Conan was fast asleep. Stealing a kiss, one slow and deep kiss, he pressed his little detective closer against his chest, continuing the lullaby his father taught him once.

It was a lullaby he shared with Shinichi.

* * *

" _Hello, Conan-kun," he said and Conan looked at him in disgust. He was bound and gagged, and he was starting to strip him. "Hmm," he said as his fingers feel every dip and curve of his body, and he couldn't help but shudder in disgust._

 _No way would he let this man feel him that easily._

 _He tried to avoid the hands that touched him as much as he could, but he couldn't avoid it all. He felt the man's annoyance, and a hand trailed his jawline. "What do you_ want _?" he said, his voice cold and scolding._

 _He tried to speak, but his mouth was gagged. Only muffles were heard. The man chuckled._ 'Sickening…' _Conan thought, frightened. "If you don't tell me what you want…"_

 _Then everything happened at once. At first, it was Ran, then Aoko, then the detective boys, then… "Oh, that one's not dead yet," he said coldly. Indigo eyes glinted in the darkness, fear and tiredness reflected within._

" _I want him…" he whispered in his ear, nibbling the shell in a seductive manner that made him want to puke, "to watch as I take you away." Then he was spread bare in front of him, and those hands traveled over him._

 _The touching goes on, and Conan did his best to thrash around and shake the man off, but his attempts were futile. It was just a matter of time—_

"Shinichi!" he heard as he tried to breathe in air. He looked into the indigo eye that stared at his azure ones like none other. "K-Kai…to…" he whispered, still trying to even out his breathing. Kaito lifted him easily and let him clutch at the shirt he wore as he tried to calm himself.

He didn't even realize that he'd called him by his teenage self's name. He just wanted to shake off that disgusting feeling of being felt by unknown hands. A bile rose out in his throat, and he managed to croak out "B-b-bath—"

And Kaito was immediately in the bathroom, helping him ease up as he hurled into the toilet bowl.

Kaito gave him a warm glass of water, mixed with some honey. It was something that could help him ease up faster, usually. "Feeling better?" the magician asked, watching the absentminded little detective curled up under a blanket.

He nodded weakly and gratefully sipped the honey-mixed warm water. His throat was killing him, and the ghost of his dream was just… haunting. Kaito draped an arm over his shoulder in a comforting way, and closed his eyes when he heard his detective sigh and lean into his warm embrace.

"If you want, you can tell me about it anytime, alright?" he said. Conan nodded and, with a small voice almost a whisper, he told him his dream until he fell asleep once more. Kaito had a burning anger in his gut, and yet, he couldn't leave the little detective at the moment.

Setting the empty glass onto the table, he picked the detective up and laid him on the bed.

" _Take him to the Kudou Manor before he wakes up. I've been telling him to rest up, but he won't listen. Lock him up in there if you have to,"_ he remembered the small scientist said, and he knew that this was what she probably meant by unable to rest.

"Don't worry Shinichi," he said right in the detective's ear, "I'll protect you from all the bad guys out there who wants to hurt you. I don't care whatever reason you have for breaking up with me, but I swear, if someone gets close to even touching you, I'll kill them with my own hands." He left a growl hanging at the last words before snuggling up beside him.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Err… EH. Ookay, I sort of lost it there… Sorry for sleepin' on the job? BAH. I need to concentrate. FOCUS. I don't even know if this chapter made any sense (it does, sort of, to me) buuuuuut if you have any complaints, take it to my synapse system which sort of suddenly shut down in the middle of writing…**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_

 _ **Oh, yeah, right, I almost forgot. I'm also gonna post a**_ **Legend (by Marie Lu)** _ **fic within… Uh, the hour? It's an Omega verse fic with lots of… dark themes. SO! I'm just tellin' you guys, alright?**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N**_

… _**Which one is this…?**_

Conan didn't attend the heist on Ran's insistence. Getting another injection—one Haibara insisted he take for a few months, just to be safe—he stared at the homework his dad gave him (from Canada). It was a monthly occurrence now, ever since he shrunk and his parents knew.

He needed it, if he is going to skip his whole high school just because he shrunk and want to get to college ASAP after he got his body back. It was only natural that his father pulled some strings for that to become a reality.

He'd told Ran that those homework's were 'puzzles from his dad', and she'd leave him alone when he started on the problems. Twelve subjects each month, one hundred or so problems each subject. Usually, he'd finish it by dinnertime, if not by next week.

After he's finished, he usually just left it to Agasa, who then scans the problem and the solution and sends them to his father via email. "KAITOU KID HAD JUST APPEARED!" he heard. Haibara toned the TV volume down a little so that Conan could focus on his homework.

"Seems like I have," KID said, his voice clear even though he was a few feet up. Conan glanced at the TV to find KID with the necklace he saw in the pictures in his hand. The thief clicked his tongue and shook his head. "I'm a little bit disappointed, _Tantei-kun,_ " he said to the camera.

' _How the hell does he know which channel I'm watching right now?'_ Conan thought and Haibara glared at him, signaling him to just ignore the thief and continue on his homework. Conan nodded and his attention went back to the problem in hand.

His ears picked up the questions on who is the _'Tantei-kun'_ KID emphasized on. Conan's hand moved to scribble on the piece of paper to solve the problem. Nakamori's voice boomed through the TV, despite the TV volume being 5. "KID!"

"Well, then, I guess I'll pay my little Tantei-kun a… visit," he said in a nearly seductive tone, making the fangirls swoon. Then, with some sort of firework display, he disappeared. Conan let out an unimpressed laugh.

"Idiot," Haibara said with a smug look, "as if I'd let him do that."

"Yeah, ri—" Conan was suddenly pushed into a sack and Haibara tightened it up. "Oi, Haibara?! What are you doing?!"

"Just adding spice to the game… Finding Conan," she said and threw him into a room. "Oi, Haibara?!"

"Tch. Such a noisy little detective," she said and the sound of some spray alerted Conan. "Sleep tight, Edogawa-kun," she said with a wink and closed the door.

* * *

' _Ara?'_ KID thought, retracting his wings and landing onto a tree branch. _'Ojou-san is alone? Where's Shinichi?'_ he thought and smirked when teal eyes met indigo ones. She threw him a smug smirk before continuing on her magazine.

"That little traitor," he muttered under his breath and casually opened the window and walked inside. "Oh my," the scientist said in a somewhat bored yet amused tone, "there's a thief inside the house."

"You're right, ojou-san," he said with a bow. "Do you happen to see my little detective?"

"Hmm? I wonder what you're talking about?" Haibara said dismissively. "You know, a little kid, glasses, your age, male, a… distinctive cowlick in his hair?" Kaito said with a smirk. "You sound like Kai-nii-san," she said casually, seeing the thief tense in the corner of her eye.

"I wonder who you're talking about?" he said with a composed smile. Inside, he was panicking. _'Am I found out?! That can't be… Is it because I spend too much time with Shin—Conan?'_ His mind was running furiously.

She gave him a triumphant smirk. "I won't tell," she said in an innocent girl act. Kaito's mouth twitched. _'This girl… knows a lot more than she lets out, seems like…'_

"Well~ then… How about I search the house… for the little gem I call Tantei-kun?" Kaito said and Haibara said, "Be my guest."

* * *

' _That little girl…'_ Kaito thought with a small growl. The attic wasn't one of the most pleasant places, but he wondered how the girl could possibly lift the small detective high up there in a sack? And she's a girl?

He shrugged. She probably used some kind of physics theory to get him up. Retrieving the boy from the sack, he knew that the scientist had given him some sleeping drug. Once he felt Conan cuddle up into his chest, with his arm securely propping him up in a carry, he made his way downwards.

He hadn't thought that his little detective would be hidden in a place such as an attic, and he'd pretty much searched all over the Agasa residence in what seemed to be an hour or so. "Ah, you found him, thief?" Haibara asked, not looking over her magazine.

He'd wondered how long she was able to stay seated in the same position for hours to no end, because he certainly can't do so unless he was required to. For heist purposes, of course. "Of course I did," he smirked.

"Off to Kudou Manor… or your house?" the girl said suggestively. _'Oh she knows alright. She knows exactly who I am,'_ Kaito mused and sent her a playful grin. "The sky."

She raised an eyebrow and shrugged, returning to her read. "Don't stay out too late, okay?" she said like a mother. Glancing at the clock, it was already 9 PM. "We will," he replied, smirking.

* * *

Conan awoke to the cold night breeze stinging his nose and ear, burying his face into Kaito's chest for warmth before realizing what he was doing. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he looked up to find indigo eyes, one obscured with a monocle.

"K-Kaitou KID?!" Conan said in surprise. He certainly didn't expect to see KID upon waking up. "Yo, Tantei-kun," he said with a light tone. "Enjoy your nap?" he said with a smirk. "You know, you…" Conan trailed off when he took in their surroundings.

His paling face brought a smirk to Kaito's face. "What do you think? I brought you here from Ojou-san's grasp," he said and sat on the edge of the building's rooftop. It was way up high, and the wind was blowing really hard.

Seeing the city lights from way up high made him gasp, his eyes wide with amazement. He was speechless, and Kaito could only hold his body just so that he wouldn't fall off the roof's edge. He turned his head so that he could see the magician and said, "This is amazing—"

"— _Kaito!"_

He winced at the sudden memory. _'What…?'_

He then felt Kaito's hand gently stroking the back of his head, at the place where it hurts the most, and leaned into the warmth the said hand provided. He certainly can get used to that.

* * *

"Oh, hello. Fancy seeing you here," Snake said sarcastically. He'd hoped that he'd die in the building, but he guessed that he still had enough luck to survive it. "Fancy seeing _you_ here, Snake… Off to put KID to rest?" the man chuckled.

"It seems so," Snake shrugged and prepared his sniper. He clicked his tongue. "That bastard chose a very strategic spot tonight," he grumbled. The other man nodded, "I agree…"

Snake eyed him wearily. "What are you planning?" he asked, venom dripping from every word. The man shoved his binoculars into his jacket's inner pocket. "None of your busin—"

Snake noted the word cut and eyed him, suspicious. "Actually," he said thoughtfully, "maybe it _is_ your business…"

"What're you getting at?!" he snarled. The man chuckled. "Impatient as always, Snake… You know I don't like impatient boys…"

"I don't care about your pedophilia, Charlie. What're you truly getting at?!"

"Let's see…" he said, the tips of his lips twisting up slightly at his own thought, "how about… you take care of Kaitou KID, and I take the boy."

"What boy?" Snake asked, truly confused this time. "Didn't you see the news?" Charlie asked, as if he were taken aback. "No. I don't give a damn about the news, unless it's about my accomplishments," he huffed.

"Well, let's just say I'm taking his _favorite_ little detective… The one who has _'Tantei-kun'_ as a pet name," he chuckled darkly. Snake raised an eyebrow. He wanted to say that he refused, but Charlie had already gone and said, "I'll give you time to think about it. If ever you want to join in my attempts, then be my guest."

"… Why are you offering me this?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… You have asked way too many questions tonight, Snake," Charlie said in a scolding tone. "If you haven't noticed, every time there's a heist notice that has been publicized, a certain child would come into view."

"… That Kudou Shinichi kid? He's disappeared long ago, and I haven't seen him—"

"Not _Kudou Shinichi,_ " Charlie snarled, putting as much deadly venomous hate as he could in that name alone. Then his features softened with twisted lust and Snake shuddered. _'This guy's totally fallen for this Tantei-kun guy…'_

"I meant the little child that always come with the police… that child named 'Conan-kun'…"

Snake thought for a moment and then shrugged. _'I guess that's the boy who kicks balls at KID…'_

* * *

"You're way past curfew, young man," Haibara said to the thief who'd just landed gracefully in front of the Agasa Residence, retracting his wings as he did so. "Sorry, sorry, we just got caught up in the moment," Kaito said with a sheepish smile.

"Right," Haibara said, her tone accusing as she eyes the Conan who was nestled in the thief's arm, asleep. "So you finally realized what time it is when he suddenly fell asleep?" she said with a slight curve at the tips of her lips, her tone somewhat suggestive.

"Well, it's a shame that he fell asleep right in the middle of it all," Kaito said, catching the suggestive drift. "I just hope that he can last longer than that next time."

"There's even a next time?" Haibara said, continuing their suggestive talk. "Well, if he consents to it next time I ask him, then there will be a next time."

They were silent for a moment, then Haibara started giggling. "I've never met someone who I can talk to with the same level of… _innocence,_ Kaitou KID-san," Haibara said with a coy smile. "Well, I guess I understand you, seeing that this guy is _that_ innocent…"

"Oh?" Haibara raised an eyebrow. "You both never gone that far? Even when he's in his original form?"

"Now, where the hell did you get such knowledge?" Kaito asked, his heart uneasy. "Of course, yours truly…"

"Aoko," Kaito said, face palming. "No need to ask. Plus, Ran-san's been talking to her in my presence. Of course I caught the drift."

Kaito's smirk was wide and Haibara returned it with one of her own. "So, have you two gone that far?"

"We've been dating for the last three years. How can we not go that far?"

"Hmm… But I wonder why Kudou-kun is still so… dense?"

"Beats me. He got that from his mother, I guess," Kaito shrugged, now totally at ease with the girl. A sneeze made them remember that they were still outside. Motioning to the thief to come with her, he complied, conjuring a tissue out of nowhere and wiping the snot on Conan's face.

"You're starting to act like a mom, you know?" Haibara said.

"You're like a protective dad who won't let his daughter to be taken away by a certain thief," Kaito countered. "You're a mom," she said, boiling some water. "And you're a dad," Kaito said with a smirk. "Feminist," she said.

"Hey, no fair!" Kaito whined. "I can't call a girl a feminist!"

"Womanizer. Show-off. Petty thief," Haibara kept on listing her insults towards him, all the while serving him some tea. Kaito had changed from KID into civilian Kaito, since he was certain that the girl knew his true identity by now.

After tucking Conan in bed, they continued their conversation until 2 AM, when Kaito decided that he wanted to sleep in the Kudou Manor instead of imposing on Agasa Hakase. "Be my guest," Haibara shrugged.

"Thanks a lot," Kaito smiled and out of habit, went through the dark cover of night to break into Shinichi's room.

* * *

He was tired, but he wondered why he couldn't sleep.

As his eyes adjusted to the dark lighting of the house—Haibara insisted that he don't turn on the lights—he walked through the halls which he was so familiar with, due to the times he stayed at Shinichi's when they were a couple.

' _Were,'_ Kaito thought disappointedly. The only rooms that he could turn the light on was the inner rooms which don't have a window facing outside. One of them was the study, and he went in mainly because of the things he did when Shinichi had dropped his guard and slept on his chair.

He looked more like a child then, rather than someone his age. And for some reason, Shinichi was always spending time in the study, instead of in the bedroom with him. Especially the few days prior to their breakup.

" _We're off!"_

The memory sent a pang of sadness in his heart, but he steeled himself. _'There's no way Shinichi would break up with me without reason!'_ Kaito thought determinedly. Then, it hit him; How about he search the whole Study to find clues as of to why the detective broke up with him?

' _Good idea!'_ he thought giddily and started searching.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **I'm gonna leave it at that, yeah?**_

 _ **Haha, alright, alright… No seriously, I will leave it at that. Because tomorrow and the day after, and the day after tomorrow, I can't update anything. Serious. It's not that I'm taking a break, but I've got tests I need to attend to and a graduation I need to do…**_

 _ **So, yeah. Life sucks right now (especially when you have your dad/mom indirectly saying that you should've chosen somewhere better for a university because you're smart blah blah blah and yeah)… And since I know that there are some people who have an insatiable desire to read (be it fanfics or books or just stories) like me, I suggest you to visit my favorite stories.**_

 _ **I will warn you though, that it's all boyxboy and that not all of them are DC/MK fanfics. Meh. I'll see you later in Unsettled-Settled~ (updating within the hour).**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N**_

 _ **XD Thank you MoonlightMelody who actually nearly died because I didn't update much XD Your review is hilariously appreciated XD (Is that even possible?!) Since I'm sort of afraid that I might just about murder people from the lack of update, so please do indulge yourself in another chapter of Heartbreak~**_

 _ **Oh, and one more thing, I don't feel guilty at all for the cliffhanger back there XD Because I just know how some people just**_ **love** _ **to wait for the next chapter because of cliffhangers (I might just actually murder someone because of it, but meh.)~**_

The grand piano played a very familiar melody, yet the one playing it wasn't as familiar to Shinichi. "Shinichi," Yukiko called from beside the man who was currently playing the piano. Except, she didn't _look_ like his mother at all, only her voice was the same.

His confusion must have showed in his face, because Yukiko pouted and put her hands onto her hips. "Oh, come one, Shinichi," she sort of whined, "I won't dress you up in any more of those clothes, I swear!"

The man chuckled. "Yukiko-san, it's only normal for him to act the way he is acting after what you did to him," he pointed out. "Toichi's right, Yukiko," his father said, coming into the room with two mugs of what smelled like coffee in his hands.

"Look at him, he's pouting!" he chuckled, followed by Toichi's chuckling voice. Yukiko let out a pouty 'hmph' and accepted Yuusaku's silent offer for a mug of coffee. "Even my son finds that amusing," the man, Toichi, said.

The soft, familiar melody continued on, lulling him. He yawned and leaned to his left, finding something warm beside him. An all-too-familiar laugh erupted softly, his head bobbed at the laugh. It was someone's shoulder, and he didn't really want to move any more than the other person was making him.

Shinichi kept his glare intact, not wanting to get close to the one who'd dressed him up in, like, hundreds of cross-dressing clothes. It didn't amuse him, even in the slightest. At some point, though, he knew that he'd fallen asleep.

Opening his eyes once more, he got up, this time in his pajamas, under the blanket on his bed. His throat felt somewhat painful, as if he'd been coughing all night long.

He trudged to the door located in his room which led to the hallway outside. It was dark. Very, very dark. But he was used to this darkness, and went to the kitchen anyways. Pouring water into a glass, he gulped it gratefully.

His thirst for water was quenched, but he realized that there was his weird, uneasy gut feeling which made him feel as if he could throw up anytime.

There was a thud, and a rustle, and he, curious as he was, walked over to the source of the sound. But he realized that his slippers were making way too much noise, so he took them off, feeling the cool wood under his feet.

It came from the piano room, and he saw that the lights were also out. He was sure that his parents would stay up later than that.

A cold shiver went through him, and he felt something very, very wrong due to the lack of the house's noise. He quickened the pace. Upon entering the room, his feet felt something wet. Inspecting the liquid, he found that it was red.

The worst came to mind immediately, but he shook his head. It was way too early to conclude that someone died in the piano room. He smelled the liquid and found that it didn't smell irony, like how blood would.

It smelled more like… alcohol?

As he came to that conclusion, he realized that the floor was beginning to fill with the liquid, probably not just one type of alcohol. He smelled wine, beer, whiskey, and many more alcoholic drinks that made his head dizzy.

"Conan-kun," a cold voice. It sent shivers down his spine, and he felt the extreme urge to run. Run, run, run. But no. He was a detective, and he knew what had to be done. He turned and face the man behind him. Charlie.

"Hello, there," Conan said with a confident smirk, even though he didn't feel as confident as he sounded. Charlie raised an eyebrow. "How very… brave of you, Conan-kun."

No, he didn't like how the man called his name oh-so-familiarly. But he knew that that was how he knew him by, so he couldn't really complain either. There were unspoken words, hanging in the air, but he wasn't able to read it at all.

He stood his ground, not letting himself fidget under the man's gaze. "Would you like some tequila?" he offered, not seeming to mind that he was a child. "What did you come here for?" Conan asked, his eyes narrowing, not wanting to waste his time.

Seconds clicked by and with each passing second, his heart beat faster, and louder, and fear grew inside him. "Hmm… I just wanted to offer some tequila for you but… I change my mind," he shrugged and the bottle of tequila disappeared.

"I hope you won't hate me for this," he said again with a smirk, and the lights turned on. The whole place turned into a tri-chromic world, white and black and red. Red, red, red. A four-leaved clover drawn into a triangular emblem, like the one KID had on his monocle, fell into his hands, all blood-stained.

Behind him, a white top hat. On the doorway, a monocle. All drenched in blood. "No," he heard himself mutter. He then dashed out of the room, disregarding Charlie who had a wicked grin on his face.

There was the blood-soaked cloak, and then the white and red suit. The red-stained blue undershirt, along with the red-stained orange tie.

He saw him then, the man cloaked in black. "… Snake," he said, not knowing how he knew. "Hello, Kudou Shinichi," he said, turning to the detective. He'd grown out of his shrunken body and into his previous state; the seventeen-year-old East Detective had returned into the tri-chromic world.

"What did you do to Kai?" he asked.

"Oh, you might want to see for yourself," he said with a smirk, discarding his gun and stepping away from Shinichi's line of view.

Kaito laid, unconscious and unmoving, a pool of blood all around him. In his hand, a paper, a note. A letter? A warning.

His plans was just to get Kaito out of Snake's immediate reach, and he thought that it would be easier if they both don't have any other attachments to each other, that is until the black-clad man is out of the picture.

Shinichi's body felt heavy, his feet wouldn't cooperate. He regretted something, but what?

Then, a pair of arms grabbed him from behind, resting onto his waist, pressing him flush against someone's chest. It was cold, it felt merciless.

"You're mine now, Conan-kun… Wholly mine," he said and he was, once more, a child.

He hated the outcome, he hated the dream, he hated the memory. What was he thinking about again? Where was he? A dream? Nonetheless, he screamed in pain, and grief, and—

* * *

He opened his eyes, suddenly wide awake. The ghost of is dream fleeing away hurriedly, leaving him no recollection of the dream at all. He got up, his breath labored, and he saw that it was only five AM.

With a hand in his hair, he sighed. _'It's just a dream…'_ But what was it?

* * *

"Good morning, Conan-kun, you're early," Ran said with a smile, seeing that Conan was already pouring himself something to drink. Conan nodded, trying to look cheerful. Ran went into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

His phone rang, and he checked the caller ID. It was Kaito. He recalled the cold night when they were on top of the tower, his eyes marveling at the beautiful lights, bright against the dark of night. It felt like a nostalgic scene, yet…

He shook his head and started digging in to the breakfast Ran served him. He didn't answer Kaito's call.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Ooookay, so this one was a quickie, I guess, and a bit on the dark side? Yep. Sorry that this one's a bit short, but my mind's distracted right now (mostly because of the book I found in the bookstore,**_ **The Girl on The Train** _ **by Paula Hawkins…. And yes, I do recommend that book, if you're a heavy reader XD)… Plus, I just got back from my graduation stuff, and now I'm in my house, with my mom trying to make me do things, and, well, its not really my best condition to write.**_

 _ **I might not update regularly because I'll be moving soon (by soon, I mean next month or the month after… I dunno) but I won't use that as an excuse to not update when I can! Thank you for the reviews and favs and follows and… views.**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N**_

 ** _Hehey guys! I'm sorry that I can't update real fast (like a few weeks ago...) because one, I'm at home and I'm always busy at home (I was in the dorms before :/) like mom wants me to cook, my big sister needs my help in baking, my little sister... well, you get the point. Two, I tend to sleep in when I'm at home and I get really lazy... and I read more than write, so... Three, I have less time to write._**

 ** _And this kind of situation would probably last until August or September... I think. (If you're not aware, I'm still like, sixteen or seventeen or something) Just hope college comes fast, 'cuz I will be able to write more once I'm out of this house... Thanks for being patient!_**

Kaito clenched the paper tightly on the sides, rereading it many times over just so that the written information can sink in.

 _Don't forget our talk, Kudou Shinichi._

Of course, there was no sender or whatever that can pin point the person who wrote that note. Absolutely not Shinichi, nor anyone near him. (He did memorize each and every one of their hand writings, just to be sure) And he did not recognize it as anyone's hand writing, at least not anyone he knows of. He pocketed the paper carefully and opened his phone.

Shinichi-no, Conan-was just at the house to his left, and he was sort of trespassing into his private property... It was two AM. He went back to Shinichi's room and sat down, finding himself thinking, _'Was this the reason for our break up?'_

It was clearly a threat. To what, though? Depending on the one who wrote it, it must've been a pretty bad threat, or it was just some prankster's threat. No, scratch the latter. Knowing Shinichi (and his logical sense and strategic thinking and... well, everything,) it must be the former. Was it one of his fanatic fans that threatened him? Or someone close to him who wanted him so badly, like Akako? Or maybe...

Not, it wasn't possible... Was it? He groaned, thinking about the cold-blooded murderer who had a sniper by his side at almost all times and would probably be more than happy to threaten his favorite detective who apparently is now his ex. But maybe, he have seen the connection between him and his detective, seeing how he always appeared to his heists.

Maybe he connected the dots and had gotten to the right conclusion. Who knows?

Setting the alarm so that he can take the earliest train available, he sunk into the bed and breathed in Shinichi's lingering scent, imagining Snake, confronting Shinichi on a rooftop.

Had they met before? When he wasn't looking and Snake watching him like a hawk, even as his eyes were directed at the detective? What did they talk about? That was the number one question in his head.

What did they talk about to make _Shinichi_ break up with Kaito? He was famous for thinking things through, but at the moment, seeing how the curse called temporary amnesia had nestled itself into his detective's head, he knew he wouldn't be able to ask him straight away.

It was just not possible for now.

* * *

He was still thinking, his fingers going about as he conducted the mayhem inside the classroom, not even glancing at his screaming classmates as colours and glitter flew about. He was too deep in thought.

Akako sighed at his actions, and Aoko only looked at him with pity, even as her hair turned blue. Who would've thought that the magician who was famous for his pranks wouldn't take interest into his own large-scale prank?

"Kaito!" Aoko said, slamming her hands onto his tale, making green hand prints on it as her body colour turned from yellow to green. Kaito looked at her, unimpressed. "What is it, Ahoko?" he asked, his mind not into the question at all.

"Don't 'What is it, Ahoko?' me! Fix this mayhem immediately!" she said, frustrated. "Okay," he said after a while, and his fingers moved and the spray of colour and glitter stopped completely. Aoko gaped at him.

 _'Did he just stop his prank because I told him to?!'_

Now she's more worried. Kaito would usually just run around first before actually giving up his prank. At least, not something as large-scale as this.

"Kaito," she started, cautious, "are you sure you're alright?"

He hummed in response. Akako watched as Aoko's expression turned into a blank one. She didn't want to intervene in this one argument. She was just a spectator right now, and she's quite entertained, judging by her face.

In a swift move, Kaito was immediately latched onto the ceiling, his chair shot through the air to the lockers at the back of the classroom, due to the mop Aoko swung. It was lightning speed. Their classmates gasped at the action. Sure, she was acknowledged for her abnormal skill with mops (and swinging them around to hit Kaito), but never had they thought it possible for her to...

To actually shatter a _chair_ from hurling it towards the back of the classroom with a _mop,_ no one saw that coming.

"You trying to kill me?!" he asked. He was thankful for his instincts that can make him react before something happened. "Get your acts together, Bakaito!" she screamed, her eyes definitely murderous. Kaito stared at her with unconcealed bewilderment. "You can't just keep on mulling over it just because _he_ was the one who initiated your break up!"

Akako's eyes narrowed. She was certain that there was supposed to be a zero percent possibility in Kaito and Shinichi breaking up. Well, zero point one percent at least. "You know him better than anyone! You know that he must have some kind of acceptable reason for your break up! So just _get over it!_ " she shouted, throwing the mop away.

Kaito still had his unconcealed bewilderment expression, and Aoko watched him as he unlatched himself from the ceiling, her tears falling involuntarily. After a while of silence, Kaito gave her his most sincere smile and hugged her, "Thank you, Aoko."

He felt her hug him back and sob into his shoulder, and they stayed like that until Aoko calmed down. Akako cleared her throat. "It's good that you're finally moving on and accepting your break up and having that very touching moment with your childhood friend, but... can we start call now?" she said with a smirk.

Aoko's face burned and she nodded as Kaito only grinned at her, his poker face back on his face. She was right. He should get over their break up and actually do something about it.

He never intended to separate from Shinichi anyways.

The next morning, he called Shinichi-er.. Conan-and waited for a while.

He didn't answer.

* * *

"I'm back!" Conan announced, closing the door behind him. The office was eerily quiet, and he saw no signs of Mouri, nor Ran. He frowned. Where are they? "Ran-nee-chan? Uncle Kogoro?" he called. He had a bad feeling about this.

Opening his phone, he called Ran, and she picked up immediately. "Ran-nee-chan?"

"Conan-kun? Ah, sorry Conan-kun, but I'll be back by dinnertime, okay?" she said, as if realizing the reason for the call. "I think Dad's upstairs, if he's not in the office."

"? Why would he be upstairs?"

"Dad," she said, malice evident in her tone, even through the phone. Conan shuddered. "He went out drinking with his friends, playing mahjong all night long, and now he's got an extreme hangover, and he's probably sleeping upstairs or something."

"A-ah... O-okay... Thanks, Ran-nee-chan."

Click.

He sighed. Kogoro was upstairs, and Ran was out until dinnertime. But he still couldn't shrug off that weird feeling, as if he was in some kind of danger.

Then, someone knocked on the closed office door. "Sorry, but the Mouri Detective Agency is closed for today," he said, opening the door to see who the visitor was.

"Hello, Conan-kun," he said, and Conan gasped. "Ch-Charlie?!"

"Hmm," he shrugged. "Sorry, Conan-kun, but today, I'd like to be referred as... Tequila."

Realization dawned upon him too late. Charlie had already put a cloth up onto his mouth, a hand clenched his throat, and Conan gasped in surprise. Darkness fell all around him as he fell unconscious.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Yes, another kidnapping, and, well, a short chapter... Thank you for ThePandaThief for pointing out my spelling/grammatical mistakes in the chapters before! I can try to correct the spellings, but the grammar... Well, it never was my good point. And English isn't my mother tongue (and sometimes I can't really determine what tense I should use so I just use the one that fits with the sentence best in my mind...)**_

 _ **Sorry for the belated update too! As I said, I'm busy at home.**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	10. Chapter 10

**_A/N_**

 ** _Hahaha, yes, I do dare, Guesto. I did just give you all a cliff hanger… xxSnowxxAngelxx, thanks for letting me know. TBH, I'm flattered (I think?) Thanks anyways. But if there are... evident mistakes, I'd be grateful if you guys pointed it out anyways. Ahah, sorry, I got a bit caught up there. Hey people! Have I ever told you that I'm actually addicted to lullabies and baking?_**

Kaito hated outings, especially when it's with Aoko and her friends (most of them are girls, despite her obvious tendency to be a tomboy. He wonders why…) He sighed as he took a bite of him vanilla caramel sundae and watched as Ran and Sonoko joke about something, and Aoko didn't get it.

"Really, now," Akako said, sipping her tea (peppermint tea, it seems). Kaito raised an eyebrow at her in a silent question. "After that breakdown a few days ago, you both seem to be all good," she stated, as if it's something very obvious.

Well, in a sense, it is. It should be, at least.

"But I wonder about your… ex," she said with a smug smirk on her face. He then gave her a pointed look. "You don't snoop into my daily life daily, do you," Kaito said with a smug tone of his own. Her lips twitched in annoyance.

She then sipped on her tea again and Kaito took another bite into his sundae. "In a few minutes, you should go rush and check on your little critic," she then said calmly, watching her half full tea. She'd been sitting there for hours, and it's still that much? Kaito mused.

"Why would I?" he asked, certain that his little detective can protect himself, and would feel offended if he actually checked on him once every few days. "You'll regret not going, you know."

Kaito scoffed, earning himself a glare from the red witch. "I don't really want to tell you 'I told you so' just because it's rude, but—"

Suddenly, Ran's phone rang, and it seemed like she's having a conversation with Conan. He raised an eyebrow at Akako who sipped her peppermint tea coolly, as if she didn't say something which somehow worried the magician thief.

As much as he didn't like to admit it, Akako can be right in many things. Predicting the future was one of them. Being smug about it was an after-effect. Kaito stood, excusing himself from the group and putting some cash for his share, and went away.

* * *

Charlie placed the detective in a big bag, putting on a hat before walking down the stairs. "Hey," someone called, and Charlie turned to find Kaito, someone he vaguely remembered in the abandoned lab.

The one who tricked him into activating a bomb with his gunshot. He suppressed a growl and said nothing.

"Conan," he said which made Charlie twitch involuntarily. He didn't expect to run into someone who was close to Conan. "What about him," he said in a neutral voice, but he couldn't deny the statement tone rather than a questioning tone he wanted to use.

"Give him back," he said, eyes glinting murderously. Smirking, he pulled his cap down, hiding his face under a shadow. "Alright," he said, his eyes judging the teen in front of him. "But you have to answer me this; What are you to Conan-kun?"

Kaito narrowed his eyes, trying to make out what he was trying to tell him all the while keeping his poker face intact. "What are you getting at?" he asked, his hands in his pocket, letting out the impression that he was all cool and calm about this.

His fingers closed in on a ball-shaped container and gripped it tightly, just in case he needed it.

"No reason," he shrugged. "Just that if you're 'just a friend', then I won't give him to you, no matter if you'd actually risk your life to save him like last time."

Kaito contemplated his answer. "Or," Charlie smirked, "are you someone related to… Kudou Shinichi?"

Kaito gave him a KID grin.

"I'm not _just_ related to the East Detective, oh dear kidnapper," he said with a challenging glint in his eyes. "I'm his boyfriend."

Charlie barked out a laugh at that, earning some passerby's curious glance. "So you're protecting your boyfriend, huh?"

"Can't let my favorite little critic get injured, now, can I?"

"Then you're Kaitou KID," Charlie concluded as if he was summing up the fact that potassium and H2O would blow up if joined together. "Now what gave that away?" Kaito said curious-sarcastically.

"Snake," Charlie said with a smirk. "Aah, little snake has been stalking me, I presume?"

"I dunno," Charlie shrugged, handing over the bag which consisted of a sleeping Conan. "But he had a talk with your boyfriend."

Kaito's ears perked up at that. "What did they talk about?"

"Not my business," he shrugged and shook his head. "If you're oh-so-curious, why don't you ask your stalker snake?"

"I might," Kaito said lightly, "if only I knew where he is."

Charlie's eyebrows rose and he gave him a sardonic grin after a few moments. "Next heist, I'll tell you where Snake is, but on one condition," he started. "A negotiation, huh?"

Charlie shrugged. "I want you to bring him for me," he gestured towards the sleeping boy in the bag. "That's all," he said. Kaito thought about the pros and cons first before settling on agreeing on the negotiation. "Deal."

* * *

Conan jolted out of his sleep in panic. His breathing was shallow, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He remembered what had happened, and was not willing for it to ever happen.

He looked around. _'This place is… Uncle Kogoro's bedroom…?'_ He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. _'So I wasn't kidnapped? Then all that was just a dream…?'_

He shook his head. _'Something like that, I should check it with Kai,'_ he nodded to himself and slipped out of the third floor to the second floor, and into the Detective Agency Office. Taking out Conan's cellphone, he searched for Kai's number.

His brows lifted in confusion. He swore that he'd seen his name on his phone once when the said magician called him last time.

 _"I'm his boyfriend."_

 _'I don't remember ever having a boyfriend… or a love interest of any kind,'_ he thought with a furrowed brow. He then took out Shinichi's phone.

 _"Or… are you someone related to Kudou Shinichi?"_

Sure enough, there was one contact in which he never knew existed—more like, didn't remember existed. _'Kuroba… Kaito?'_ he thought with a raised eyebrow. His thumb was on the call button when;

 _"Then you're Kaitou KID,"_ a statement, a conclusion, not a question.

A few minutes later, Conan gasped and his face burned as realization hit him, hard. _'I was dating the international thief?!'_

He wanted to laugh, he could _see_ himself laugh at… himself. The greatest detective in Japan, one who had been entitled 'modern-day Sherlock Holmes'… was dating the international criminal 'Kaitou KID'. How ironic.

He pondered over wether he should call the thief or not. _'"Next heist," he said… maybe I can ask him then…?'_

He leaned into the closed door and sighed. That doesn't mean that everything's solved, though. How could he conveniently lose his memory of being together with the thief, now, right? It wasn't the whole truth after all, he concluded.

After he let the new information sink in, he decided to go back upstairs and go back to sleep. He didn't mind that his head throbbed painfully. It meant that he was close to some kind of big memory, whatever it is.

The very next day, there came a heist notice from KID, and Conan's suspicion was slightly confirmed. He needed KID's… no, Kaito's confirmation. For some reason he knew that the thief magician would be truthful to him if asked directly.

"What's this? Again?" Kogoro said, annoyed. "I feel really sorry for Nakamori-keibu, really," he continued his grumbling. "Conan-kun, you're trying to crack his riddles already?" Ran asked, pouring milk into her glass.

Conan nodded enthusiastically, not making eye contact with Ran.

Because he needed to know—he _has_ to. And she didn't. She'll put herself in danger anyway if that happened, and he knew. His hand continued on scribbling.

 ** _A/N_**

 ** _Uhh… hi? Okay, so it's been days, I know, and I had this made within three days… record time, actually. I usually spend, like, a few hours before finally done with a new chapter. Meh. Thank you for everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it!_**

 ** _And sorry that this is another short chapter… -…-" I can't help it. After a big soft cake, some éclairs and pies, and coconut milk pudding and mom's cake, I finally get to get my hot choco and work on this chapter… Oh well~_**

 ** _\- To be continued -_**


	11. Chapter 11

**_A/N_**

 ** _Hey there! I hope I'm not too late? Did you guys wait long? I know you did. And oooooh it's the confrontation day already? Hmm, and it's longer than the other chapters I wrote before… Well, a little bit longer, I guess… Well, enjoy the next chapter~ ;)_**

Everything was perfect.

His task force was frozen in place downstairs, their feet crystalized a little bit to the ground (and well, he made them all wear dresses and made them pose as if they were dancing with each other and took a picture before he _actually_ froze their feet, so…) and he knew that he only has Nakamori and his little detective hot on his heels.

The run was very interesting, seeing how Conan managed to kick a lot of things in his way within a foot's reach, and hell that was dangerous. And thrilling.

But it was all done and now, the thief inspected the mask in his hand, letting the moonlight through the many gems which adorned the mask. But, despite the many various gems, none of them was Pandora. He sighed in disappointment and relief.

If any of those gems were Pandora, then he'd have to change his strategies in the following negotiation.

Somewhere below him, there was a crash, and Nakamori's voice got caught in the wind as one of his traps activated. _'Really, the web trap's getting old… When will he learn that he can just cut off the strings with a simple knife?'_ he thought with and amused smile.

But that also meant that the only one who will come was the detective he was waiting for.

He heard the door creak open. A smirk played on his lips until—

"KID," Conan said with calmness, something that was almost never evident in normal heists like this one. There was also some sort of familiarity to how his title rolled off of the detective's tongue. He turned around, his poker face perfect on his face, even though he knew his Tantei-kun could see his calculating eyes despite the shadows.

"Tantei-kun," he purred and his smirk grew even wider when he saw a shudder run through the little form. The detective seemed nervous, and curious. KID watched as he failed to not shuffle his feet, fidgeting a little. He rose an eyebrow in silent question.

"KID," he said followed by a sigh and determined eyes. "We need to talk."

"Oh? But we're talking now, aren't we?"

"…" A hand went up onto his head, a nervous habit when he felt it throb even if it's just a little. "Not this kind of talk," he mumbled, but Kaito's sharp ears picked it up and he strode towards the glasses child.

"Is something wrong?" he asked with the biggest grin on his face.

After a while of glancing at Kaito and away and back to Kaito again, Conan said quietly, "Kaito…"

The shock on his face was apparent, and he had to restrain himself from pushing him for more information, to just tell him that he remembered everything, and that he was about to tell him the reason for their break-up.

But no, that was not what had happened.

"Where's Charlie?" he asked, scolding himself for not asking the question he really wanted to ask.

"My, Tantei-kun," KID said with hurt in his voice, "who's this 'Charlie' you're referring to?"

Conan blinked before narrowing his eyes. "Don't play dumb with me, Kaito. I know that you're planning on meeting him for a negotiation."

"Since when did you change from calling me 'KID' to calling me 'Kaitou'?" he asked. The only reason why he asked that was because he wanted to know wether or not he actually remembered who he was before—who they were before.

"…." Conan bowed his head, making the moonlight hide his eyes (thank you, glasses, Kaito thought sarcastically, because now he couldn't see his expression). "… Are you really my boyfriend?" the small detective said, embarrassment tinting his whole face red, making him regret asking him, but at once, not regretting the action at all.

After a tense silence, Kaito's features turned into one of a gentle expression. "Yes," he said with a certain fondness in his voice. The confirmation made Conan's red face even redder as he looked upwards to meet the thief's eyes in surprise.

"W-w-we were?!" he stuttered. Kaito felt a little bit disappointed because he knew by his reaction that he didn't remember, but was told by someone. Someone who seemed to know of their relationship intimately before the shrinking incident and stuff.

"Yes," he waved it off, as if it were a normal occurrence. "But it's over now." He saw disappointment flash on his face before confusion made its' appearance. "You broke up with me."

His eyebrows rose a few inches up, disappearing under his bangs as surprise made itself known once again. "But… why?" he asked in a small voice. Kaito shrugged. "I dunno. You never told me."

"I…" he started and stopped and hung his head again. "I'm sorry."

Kaito lifted an eyebrow in amusement. "What for?"

"… I'm sorry for forgetting," he said in shame, as if forgetting wasn't his forte. "But I'll have you know that I didn't intentionally forget!" he said, his eyes meeting Kaito's indigo ones. He gave him a very big KID grin. "I know."

His hand then touched the part in which he knew by heart now that it hurt every time they met. His tense shoulders relaxed visibly, and he leaned into the touch, albeit subconsciously. "Must've been a pretty hard hit if it still hurts even now."

"You know," Conan stated, receiving a nod. "Let me guess, Haibara?"

"You mean Ojou-san?" he said with a wink. "She really is like an overprotective father," he joked. Conan only furrowed his brows. "Yes she did, although she made it to be pretty… subtle."

"… Subtle, huh." Conan said with a twitch under his eye.

"Yep, very subtle."

"Uh-huh."

"What about you?" he asked seriously.

"Huh?"

"How did you know? It's pretty obvious that you don't remember about… us."

 _'Us,'_ Conan found himself blush and shiver slightly in pleasure at that word. "Well…" he said, scratching his cheek in nervousness, "The sedative Charlie used on me… wasn't exactly… effective."

"It wore off much too quick, huh?" Kaito said, remembering the conversation he had with Charlie with a mental 'Oh'.

"Yeah… so I sort of pretended to sleep when you both talked… and sort of blacked out afterwards."

"How very convenient of you to fall asleep once our conversation was over," he said, rolling his eyes and ruffling his head playfully.

"Hey!"

Kaito laughed hard at his reaction. Some things never change, no matter what. Conan glared at his sudden outburst as he tried to fix his hair.

Then, very suddenly, Kaito attacked his mouth, giving him a very heated, and very deep kiss, his tongue exploring the small mouth and dancing with the tongue residing within. After a while of dancing and fighting for dominance, and a very weak-legged Conan, Kaito pulled away, looking at his watch.

It took a while for Conan's extremely distracted mind to register what he was doing. "You gonna go and meet up with Charlie after this?" he asked.

"Yes."

Kaito then lifted the small detective and pulled him into some sort of hug. "Will you accompany me, _Tantei-kun_?" he said, purring the words 'Tantei-kun' into his ears. Conan shrugged.

"You agreed on meeting… who was it, Snake? In exchange, you would hand me over to Charlie. But judging by your actions, I can see that you have a plan because you have no intention on handing me over to him."

"Sharp as always, Tantei-kun," he said, poking the said child's nose playfully before once again looking at his watch. Conan huffed, irritated, feeling insulted. "Almost time, now," he said, his breath tickling the detective's neck intentionally.

Conan glared at him after a very unintentional shudder. "This," he said towards the crowd with a pause for emphasis, "is just the beginning of the show, ladies and gentlemen!" His fans screamed at him in ecstatic anticipation.

Before Conan could do anything, the stolen mask was put onto his face, and just in time at that, because some cameras were suddenly pointed up at him. He smirked. "What do you think—"

"Hush, Shinichi," he said and waited until a very pissed off Nakamori came and shouted, "KID!" before sending him a smirk and jumped, taking off into the very eventful night.

* * *

 _From: Unknown  
_ _Subject: I'm KID_

 _How about we meet at the Ario building's rooftop? At, say, 11.00 PM?_

 _-End—_

Charlie turned his phone off as he led Snake into the open rooftop. A few days earlier, he and Snake had made an agreement to meet KID together at the specified place, telling him that he could kill him when he'd given him Conan.

"Can't I just kill him on sight?" he grumbled.

"No. You'll hurt Conan in the process if you do so."

He spat out something intelligible, somewhere along the lines of "I don't care" and "Whatever" and "Screw this".

It was one minute to the promised time, and his lips turned up in a small smile when he saw something in the sky.

The magician landed gracefully on the rooftop, retracting his wings in a very fluid motion. "Have you been waiting?" he said with a smirk, his poker face still intact. Charlie let out a growl when he saw that Conan clung to him like a lifeline, arms circling his neck, and the magician's arm on his waist, supporting him.

There was a click, and Charlie held up a hand to stop his partner's obvious intent from coming true. Snake grumbled at him restraining him. "Wow, Snake, so you actually listen to someone?" Kaito said with obvious amusement.

"Shut up, KID," he said, but didn't try to aim again. Kaito put Conan down, his mask still on. "Take off his mask," Charlie ordered. "No need to be so demanding," Conan said with the same kind of amusement Kaito showed earlier towards Snake.

As he took off the mask on his face, he then saw Snake's grumbling face, and had this weird sense of déjà vu.

 _"Snake," he said, and a form stepped out of the shadows._

 _"Kudou Shinichi… How generous of you to come," he said mockingly. Shinichi kept on his façade as the murderer's hand rested on a gun._

"Tantei-kun?" Kaito asked, worry evident on his face, a hand cradling the back of his head comfortingly. "Ah… sorry," he said with a sheepish grin before neutralizing his face into a blank one, focusing on the enemy in front of him.

 _'But… What was that?'_ he thought, puzzled.

Another growl from Charlie stole their attention, and it was clear as day that he was impatient as hell, wanting to just get his hands on the small detective and be done with it. Conan shuddered at his growl. It sounded very menacing, and threatening.

He knew that whatever would happen, if he were to be handed over to Charlie, he'll do unknown things to him which was bad news. _'Is that why he wanted to get to my good side? So that I trust him enough to just willingly walk over there and…'_

He didn't dare continue his thoughts.

"So," KID said, pulling him back to reality, "you brought Snake here personally just so that I can hand over Tantei-kun over here because I wouldn't need to ask you for his position anymore?"

"What?!" Snake growled, turning his head sharply to his partner, who shrugged. "Saves all the trouble now, right?"

"True," Kaito said thoughtfully.

"So what are you waiting for?" Charlie said with a wide smirk, his eyes gleaming in glee and anticipation when it landed on Conan's small form, his arms out stretched. "Give him to me."

Conan gave the two unimpressed looks and sighed. "Oh I would gladly do that," Conan said in a monotonous tone and a roll of his eyes. "As if."

"Aaw, but Tantei-kun, for the sake of my curiosity? Please?" KID said in a playfully pleading tone, in which Conan sarcastically laughed at.

"If only I remember," he sighed and strode forwards anyways. Charlie smiled like a maniac as he walked closer and closer, and away, towards Snake rather than him. "Now, tell me. Have we met before?" he asked, getting a shocked expression from Snake.

"I…" he said, lost for words. "You may kill him," Charlie said, and the surprised expression suddenly turned into a manic glee as he took out a big hand gun, aiming it at KID.

 _"Just because you have a gun, doesn't mean you can hit me with its' bullets," Shinichi said nonchalantly, walking closer towards the pointed gun and lightly pushing the silencer so that it wasn't aiming at his heart._

Snake looked at him with wide eyes. Conan's brows were furrowed into a frown, as he said those exact words. "How… How can you be so calm about this?! You're a child!" he said after getting out of his stunned moment.

"That's my Meitantei-kun," Kaito suddenly said, making Conan pout a little at the very familiar nickname, before frowning once more. Snake snorted at the statement whilst Charlie growled at the magician. "You can't just call a child a detective."

"Oh? But I am. I'm Edogawa Conan—"

 _"A detective," Shinichi said with a certain confidence. Snake narrowed his eyes. "But you're Kaitou KID's lover. How ironic."_

 _"Don't you think?" Shinichi said with a smile._

 _"Bah. I guess now I know why he's searching for Pandora…" he said with a shrug. "He wants to take the saying, 'eternal love' to a whole different… literal level, I guess."_

 _"How very childish of you," Shinichi said, stifling a laugh. Snake glared at him._

"Tantei-kun?" KID called, pulling him back to reality. He shook his head and gave him a wary smile. He didn't even flinch when he saw the gun pointed at his head. He simply redirected its' aim, just in time, as Snake had pulled the trigger and shot at him.

His glasses became grimy with gunpowder, so he took them off, throwing it somewhere. A thud made him look behind him to find Charlie's leg bleeding, a lot. Almost immediately, Conan rushed towards him to inspect the wound his redirection had caused.

The bullet had gone through and seems like, its' path included his thigh bone. It most likely shattered from the bullet's impact. He cursed silently under his breath and looked around for something to stop the bleeding with.

Then, another click, and he looked back at Snake, who had the gun aimed at Kaito's head, and Kaito's attention was at Conan.

 _"I want him easily caught," Snake said. Shinichi burst out laughing. "And how do you think you'll be able to do that?" he asked between heaves of laughter._

 _"Easy. Make him sad, dejected. He'll be too occupied thinking about his sadness," he said with a manic glee._

 _"Not in a million years," he said, the ghost of laughter haunting his stern expression._

 _"Well, then, before I kill him—"_

Another gunshot, and immediately he had a hand in his hair, yanking it painfully hard as a bullet grazed his cheek. "Conan—!" Kaito shouted in surprise. He didn't expect Snake to turn his murderous interest towards the small detective.

"Using him as a body shield?" Snake sneered, another click took place. He then realized that his whole body was covering Charlie's vital body parts from the deadly aim Snake offered. KID was behind him, and he didn't know how he got there, but a hand which cradled his painfully throbbing head was comforting him.

"Stop zoning out," Kaito warned, and Conan nodded. A cloth had been wrapped around Charlie's leg to stop the bleeding, but there's no telling if he'll pass out or not. "His real aim is Charlie," KID informed, his voice barely audible. "And Charlie's using you as a body shield."

"As if I didn't know that," he grumbled, and then there was another shot, this one grazing Conan's arm, successfully hitting Charlie's. He groaned in pain and glared at the trigger-happy murderer. "What's wrong, Charlie? You have your 'Conan-kun' within arm's reach, why don't you take him and leave?"

Charlie kept silent, and an arm slithered onto Conan's waist, drawing him closer involuntarily (in Conan's case) and he felt lips latch onto his neck. "Hey!" Kaito said, pulling Conan into his embrace, letting Charlie be vulnerable and become an open target for Snake.

Five shots later, Charlie found himself lying on the rooftop floor. Conan knew that the shots hadn't really hit anything vital, but the blood loss was alarming. He struggled to get out of KID's arms, and tried to apply pressure to his wounds.

"Kaito…" he said, alarm clearly evident in his voice. Charlie needed medical attention… and fast.

"Don't worry," Kaito said, jumping back to dodge a bullet which whizzed straight at him. "Don't worry my ass! He needs—"

"I know," he said, dodging two more bullets successfully. But the earlier heist had worn him off a little, and he was feeling a tad bit tired.

 _"Either I kill his friends…"_

Conan's eyes landed on a plastic on the ground as Kaito cartwheeled away from another bullet, releasing some sort of white-coloured smoke gas which enveloped both the magician and Snake. He instantly got up on his feet and rush towards the thief so that he wouldn't slip on the plastic.

There was another smoke bomb with a familiar green tint, which indicated it being a sleeping gas. It landed behind Snake, and he didn't notice, just a big smile as if he'd finally caught his prey and prepared for the final attack.

 _"… Or you."_

It was all in some sort of slow motion, all too suddenly. He leapt as he caught Kaito's figure in the midst of smoke with his eyes. It was too late, he'd stepped on the plastic and was on his way to falling ungracefully to the side with a very uncharacteristic yelp.

Snake said something he couldn't register in that moment of panic, as Conan tackled the magician to his back, just out of the bullets' reach, and he did.

He succeeded. _They_ succeeded.

Everything had gone according to plan. Well, except for Charlie getting shot and the plastic which made him slip. He heard the faint sounds of police sirens from below. It was just a matter of time. He saw Kaito smiled triumphantly, his clothes changed from the white suit which was his Kid uniform into a dark brown turtleneck sweater.

When he'd changed his clothes, they had no idea. But his triumphant smile was replaced with evident dread when the smoke had dissipated because of a strong wind. Snake laid on the floor, unconscious from the sleeping gas and Conan laid on his stomach, seemingly unconscious too.

The rooftop door banged open, and from it came Nakamori, saying, "KID!" while his eyes looked frantically everywhere. His eyes landed first on Charlie, then to Snake. "What the-?!" he exclaimed and he ordered his task force to examine the two unconscious figures.

"Call an ambulance! NOW!" he roared and looked around some more, unable to find Kaitou KID. "Nakamori-keibu!" Kaito called, panic evident in his voice. "… Kuroba-kun?! Why the hell are you…" he trailed off when he saw the figure who laid on his stomach.

His back had a hole on it, and redness seeped through it, staining his clothes. "C-Conan-kun?!" he said in bewilderment.

 ** _A/N_**

 ** _Hmm… Yep, longer than usual! Am I finally over my mild writer's block? Yeah, probably? Hmm, hmm! Another cliff-hanger, yay. How great *monotonous*. I am so not looking forward to tomorrow's events, which is… peskil._**

 ** _No, no, you don't have to google that. Suffice to say that it's an event where we become extremely religious within the next three days and tired at the same time. Seems like mom thought that I needed some religious guidance and so she signed me up to be some sort of staff there. So rest assured, I'll be back after three days…_**

 ** _\- To be continued -_**


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N**_

 _ **Hey people! As I said before, I was out DX but now I'm back! Yay! Okaaaay, so I got some reviews (thank you thank you thank you thank you XD) and I found that someone (Shana Fujioka) is confused as of to how and why Conan found out Kaito is KID, so allow me to elaborate;**_

 _ **So when Charlie attempted to kidnap Conan, he didn't know that the sleeping drug he brought would take a longer time to take effect on Conan (you know, APTX and stuff happened) so Conan was sort of conscious for a while. So he heard the whole conversation between Kaito and Charlie (Tequilaaaa) so he didn't exactly 'remember', more like sort of told—or eavesdropped or no, the words were spoken when he was in the vicinity—so, yeah.**_

 _ **Anyway, enough rambling! Enjoy~**_

Kaito fidgeted inside the interrogation room (well, sort of fidgeted) because he didn't expect himself to end up there as soon as he did. Nakamori gave him a glass of water, something complimentary to do (maybe). "So, Kuroba-kun," Nakamori started after a while.

His eyes narrowed and looked at him square in the eye. "What were you doing on the rooftop where KID was supposed to be?"

He didn't plan on his plan backfiring by something out of the plan. He didn't expect for Conan to get shot—while saving him, no less!

His poker face shifted into something known to be depressed—downcast, shadows pronouncing his indigo eyes even more, especially with his dark locks of hair nearly obscuring his eyes from view, lips pulled into a tight line, his fingers fiddling on the hem of his shirt in a nervous gesture.

He was nervous, but not because of Nakamori's stare which was trying to disassemble him (not that he was doing a successful job at it, though), but because as soon as the ambulances came, Conan had been whisked away, put onto a stretcher.

He'd accompanied him until the OR. That was as far as he could go, honestly. The forlorn look he had was genuine, even Aoko was taken aback when she came when she heard from her father.

If anything, he was scared, scared because of Conan. He didn't want to lose his favorite critic, his personal, little detective, his ex-boyfriend when he had been Shinichi (not that he loved him any less now that he's in child form.) He prayed to Lady Luck to help him with whatever she had, even if she seemed to be with Conan too, only with the Master of Death by her side in that matter.

' _Please don't let death claim him…'_

He mentally snorted at his own thoughts about Lady Luck going with the Master of Death, hanging around his detective more than they needed to, but then dismissed the thought. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and looked up at Nakamori.

"Nakamori-keibu…" he said softly, softer than he intended to. Nakamori's eyes held some sort of pity and understanding. He knew that Aoko and Kaito were close to Conan and Ran and Shinichi. But he wasn't giving him a leeway.

Kaito sighed and hunched his shoulders in a submissive gesture.

"I was at the vicinity," he said, letting a quiver pass through his lips. "And then… there were these two guys… and one of them held a gun, so I was suspicious and I… I followed them."

Nakamori gave him that scolding look, with his eyebrows knitted and his eyes narrowed, like how an angry parent would do. For a split second, the inspector reminded him of his father when he wanted to tell him that what he did was wrong. He winced slightly at the remembrance.

"You knew that he had a gun," Nakamori stated, and Kaito gave him a reluctant nod. He could see, or at least predict where this conversation was going. "And yet you followed him anyways?"

"… Yes," Kaito nodded with his hesitant act. Nakamori's fist collided with the table, startling even Kaito, albeit only slightly.

"YOU IDIOT! You clearly knew how dangerous people are when they carry a gun—illegally at that!" he roared, louder than when he yells at a KID's heists, if that's possible. "What would happen if you got killed?! Even I wouldn't be able to help you if you're out of my sight!"

Kaito took a sip of water, his eyes anywhere but the inspector. Even if he was an expert at expressions and emotions, he couldn't fend off the guilt which hit him once he saw the fatherly side of Inspector Nakamori. The said man sighed, calming down, then went back to his professional demeanor.

"Okay, sorry… That was the wrong question…"

"It's okay, Nakamori-san," Kaito offered him a small smile.

"How about we change the question?"

* * *

 _Shinichi sat in the darkness, all alone. He knew that he was somewhere, a bed probably, but everything was fuzzy and dark, and he was slightly glowing. He was contemplating on either telling Kaito or not, about his encounter with Snake._

 _A pair of arms which encircled him and pulled him until he was flush against a solid, warm chest startled him out of his reverie._

" _Shinichi, what're you thinking about?" he asked, whispering into his ear with his husky voice. His breath tickled the shell of his ear, which made him shudder and turn to him._

" _Don't surprise me like that," he replied, pouting just a little bit. Kaito pecked him on the lips for a brief moment and smiled._

" _Now, now, what did I say about pouting?" he teased._

"… _You didn't say anything," Shinichi deadpanned, which made Kaito huff. "Meanie."_

 _They stared at each other in something like a staring contest, before they both broke into laughs. They flopped into his bed—yes, it was Shinichi's bed, he realized—and Kaito once again gathered him into his arms, settling for a relaxed position whilst trying to lull himself to sleep with his fingers in Shinichi's hair._

" _What do you want to talk about?" Kaito murmured, and Shinichi looked at him with a frown. "What?"_

" _You know," Kaito said with a smirk, "you have that frown on your face whenever you're contemplating wether or not to tell me something." Shinichi felt his face heat up in embarrassment and tried to hide himself into Kaito's chest, knowing fully well that it was futile._

" _W-well…" he stuttered, trying to form the words needed to convey what had happened without making the magician act rashly and lower his guards like how Snake wanted him to. After a while of silence, Shinichi shook his head._

" _No, I was just thinking about something irrelevant."_

" _Liar," Kaito said immediately. "You were definitely trying to tell me something."_

" _No—err... well…" he searched his mind for something to distract him, something else to talk about. "Ran… told me of this café… and, uhh…"_

" _And you wanted to tell me to come with you to the café?"_

" _no, I mean—I wanted to check it out, so—I mean, go out on a date with—No, that's wrong—"_

" _A date?" Kaito said, an amused smile on his face, visible even in the darkness. Shinichi hadn't planned for this to go that way, but when he's with the magician, almost nothing would go his way, right? He heard Kaito chuckle and felt his forehead being kissed upon._

" _Alright."_

'I'll need to tell him sometime…' _he thought vaguely as Kaito started humming their lullaby, in which he knew very well of. His parents and Toichi had written it for them, and it was the nostalgia which lulled him to sleep eventually._

Conan woke up a little bit, slowly opening his eyes and looked around the room. He heard a soft breath beside him and turned to the source of the sound.

Ran was sleeping peacefully on his bedside, her eyes closed and her expression seemed almost tranquil, if not for the fading lines in between her brows. Her black hair pooled around her as two arms cradled her own head. Conan's fingers twitched before he could lift them and stroke her hair in a daze.

Then, everything came back to him, crystal clear. He got up immediately and regretted the action immediately as pain bloomed from his abdomen and he doubled over in pain. The movement must've woken Ran up, because before he knew it, she was already standing and her warm hand touched his in a calming gesture.

She looked at him in worry, and Conan took a deep breath before he let her push him gently to that he laid in his bed. "I'm gonna go call the doctor," she said, but Conan stopped her with his small hand.

"Is…" he started, his breath still a bit ragged from the lingering pain he was feeling at the moment. "Is Kaito alright?" he asked finally, registering the stunned expression on her face before it softened into a gentle smile before nodding.

She then turned from him to proceed to the doctor.

Meanwhile, Conan let out a relieved sigh and eased his head further into the pillows, seeking some sort of comfort from the hospital pillow and blanket.

A glance at the clock told him that it was 3 AM. How long was he out? He thought to himself and shrugged. He could ask Ran for that. For now, he was trying to register what had happened until it sunk in.

The plan had been a great success, just as he had expected from the International Thief, and everything was going great, except for the fact that Charlie was shot. The negotiation was unsuccessful, though, despite everything that had happened.

Kaito wanted to know why he… why Shinichi wanted to break up with him, although now he had the answer to that. All he needed to do was to tell him… That's right, why didn't he tell him before, when he had the chance?

Trying to remember, yet failing miserably, he shook his head and gave up. With time and some things happening around him, he'll remember, he concluded, just as a doctor and Ran and some nurses came in.

* * *

By the time he woke up again, it was bright, and he heard hushed talks.

"No fair!"

"Yeah, right!"

"Conan got hurt because we weren't there to help him!"

"He always tries to do things alone!"

"We have to see him, and then scold him for doing that!"

Then, there was a hum of agreement, and a sigh afterwards.

"You realize that it's because he didn't want to put you guys in danger that he didn't tell you," Haibara said coolly. "But Ai-chan…"

"Conan got himself shot. It's a relief that he only got shot on his abdomen—somewhere not fatally vital if shot. What happens if the bullet hits him elsewhere? He wouldn't be so lucky," Haibara pointed out, and he felt gloom fill the air.

"But—" Mitsuhiko started, but was cut short by Haibara's next words;

"Don't you get it?! If you get shot, would you like that?! Even Conan got shot and—"

"You should be easy on them, Haibara," Conan said, wincing a little as he tried to sit up.

"Conan-kun!" the other three said and flocked over to him, and Ran helped him sit up. They bombarded him with questions and then the conversation turned into something more harmless (for their young minds, he added in his head).

Soon, their time together came to an end, and they all said their good-byes in parting.

"Exhausted, Tantei-kun?" someone called, just as Conan heaved a big sigh. He looked around before his eyes met indigo ones. "…Kaito," he replied, acknowledging the magician. Then, there was a puff of smoke, and then appeared the carefree grin of the one and only Kuroba Kaito.

"Seems like you actually remember this time," he said gleefully. How he knew, Conan couldn't even think of the possibilities. He groaned as he set his glasses on the bedside table.

"How did you even know?" he asked, exhaustion clearly evident, yet the curiosity was also there, and Kaito let out an amused grin.

"You were talking in your sleep. Plus, you called me 'Kaito' and not 'Kai' or 'Kai-nii-chan', as how you would tend to say without you noticing," he explained with a shrug, and drank in the sight of Conan's shock. His eyes were wide with sinking apprehension, and his mouth slightly parted in a daze, and he could see his walls go down completely before it went back up again.

"I guess some day you'll actually be able to take up the job of a detective," he mused out loud, which made Kaito's eyes wide and he groaned.

"Please, anything but that," he sort of wailed. Conan's smirk was annoying and his azure eyes looked out the window. "How about asking Nakamori-keibu for a position? Maybe, if not a detective, being a part of the KID's Task Force would be very amusing for you."

Kaito's jaws dropped open at the proposal and he moaned and said, "You have no idea how many times I had to actually _tell_ them where KID's heists would be before they finally get what the target is! I will _never_ ask for a position in his task force!"

Conan raised an amused eyebrow. "So you _have_ been in the Task Force… and judging by your tone, many times at that…"

"Don't even get me started," he said, his voice taking a light teasing tone despite the wails. Conan chuckled at him and after a while, it developed into a full burst of laughter, dragging Kaito in its wake.

Kaito kissed him on the lips a lingering kiss, before pulling away and saying, "I missed this."

Embarrassment coloured Conan's face up to his ears, and he nodded minutely. Kaito let out a laugh at that and sat on the chair beside the bed, a hand going up to the part of his head where he knew would throb sometimes when he was in Kaito's vicinity.

Conan leaned into the hand and he gave Kaito a smile.

"So?" the small detective asked after a while. Kaito tilted his head in silent question, his face making the 'I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about' look. Conan rolled his eyes at that seemingly innocent look before elaborating, "At the police station. I know that Nakamori-keibu would question you seeing that you were there when he came."

"Ahh… that," Kaito said, seeming nervous. But Conan knew better than to fall for his nervous demeanor, instead seeing that he was actually highly amused at the interrogation, seems like.

Kaito told him the other version of his story, and Conan had the same amused expression Kaito would let out had he not have his poker face when he was interrogated by his own neighbor. "And so, where are Snake and Charlie?" he asked after Kaito was finished.

"Snake was handcuffed," Kaito grinned brightly, but it diminished once Conan frowned at him. "What?"

"You know that the Black Organization members wouldn't easily let one of their own go to jail in peace," Conan pointed out and Kaito shrugged at the statement.

"I figured as much, so he's being taken care of very carefully and professionally. As for Charlie… I haven't seen him since. Do you know?"

Conan shook his head in denial, failing to stifle a yawn before he was done shaking it. "Let's call it a night, shall we?" Kaito suggested, receiving a glare before Conan grumbled sleepily and laid in his bed, letting Kaito tuck him in.

"Oh right," Conan started, meeting indigo eyes with his own azure ones.

"What is it?"

"I've been meaning to tell you… before we… uhh, broke up…"

He took a deep breath at Kaito's demanding look, one he wasn't sure was a mask or his real expression, and started to tell him what he remembered about his encounter with Snake. "I don't exactly remember that much, but that's the gist of everything," he finished with a downcast face.

Kaito growled. "My friends or you…" he muttered under his breath. Conan only nodded.

"But that doesn't explain why you wanted to break up with me," Kaito said.

"Uhhm yeah, that part I still don't know… My memory's not complete yet, it seems."

Kaito nodded in understanding, his eyes fixed on the scenery beyond the room's window, but not exactly seeing anything. Conan could see the calculations and other things work in Kaito's mind as his gaze stayed outside.

There was a few moments of silence, with the clock's ticking audible and annoying to Conan's ears. He then turned to Kaito, who was watching him intently, as if studying the boy with his eyes, not even bothering to look away when he caught his eyes.

"Can you sing me that lullaby?" Conan asked him, feeling his face heat up a little at the request.

His mind went into a state of jeopardy with questions like, _'Why did I ask him that?'_ and _'That made me sound like a child, asking for a lullaby and all,'_ and _'What has gotten into me? Why can't I sleep without that lullaby now?'_

He shook his head to dismiss the thoughts, seeing that Kaito had a surprised expression on his face and was as still as stone. "Sorry, never mind that… That was a silly request."

There was a moment of silence as he tried to fend off the annoying thoughts and muses his mind supplied (and in generous amount at that…) before his ears picked up a melody, one so familiar that he knew who was singing it without even looking to his side.

A small smile presented itself without Conan noticing, although it didn't miss the analytic eyes of Kuroba Kaito, and he slipped into unconsciousness slowly.

Kaito sat there a while after his song was finished, watching his detective's chest rise and fall gently, letting his fingers brush the bangs that obscured a part of his face away.

He looked as child-like and innocent as when he was still Shinichi, and he burned the memory into his head. It had been years since he'd seen the child version of Shinichi's sleeping face, literally, and he'd missed it.

' _Well, better bask in the moment before it fades away completely,'_ he thought, his indigo eyes watched the detective sleep on. Then, his phone vibrated in his chest pocket, and he turned it on to find Jii-chan's number and name displayed on the screen.

"Hello, Jii-chan?"

"Bocchama? Please come over, it's urgent."

Sensing the immediate urgency in his voice, he nodded, accepting and confirming with the wizened man from his years of assisting in Kaitou KID's heists and most of his shows for that matter. Taking a quick glance at the detective behind him, he stole a very, very gentle and lingering kiss, before walking out of the door, closing it gently as to not wake him up.

He then proceeded to walk out of the hospital and to Jii-chan's place.

* * *

The hallways were dark, and creepy, and just what you'd expect of an after-hours hospital. He could easily imagine something or someone pop up out of nowhere in particular just to surprise him, if nothing else.

But he didn't mind, despite all his injuries.

He was slightly limping as he walked down to the lift and pressed basement, where he knew Vermouth had parked his car, waiting for him and, as she had loved to call the small detective, Silver Bullet.

The Silver Bullet himself was in his arms, sleeping soundly from exhaustion, the injury in his abdomen not making it any better for him. It was either the stress of his body healing him, quite slowly I might add, or just the exhaustion of being near his extremely nosy friends.

Unconscious for five days straight, he'd been waiting for when he actually woke up.

He couldn't wait to look into the clear azure eyes and to touch him in places he knew no one else had ever touched him before… except for KID. He growled in a feral way, very animalistic of him, at the remembrance of KID's declaration about dating Shinichi, who Conan was before Gin messed some things up and turned him into someone ideal for his twisted attractions.

Charlie shook his head and stepped out of the elevator.

"Took your leisure time, I see," Vermouth greeted him, taking a drag out of her cigarette. "Vermouth… what're you doing here? I though you're gone already…" Charlie muttered in open confusion and slight annoyance.

"Now, now, Tequila," she tsk-ed with her finger up at him. "I only wanted to see my Silver Bullet over here."

"Huh…"

"Besides," she continued, brushing Conan's hair out of his face in some sort of fondness. "I've been dying to see him once more. But not in the same way as yours, you see," she added a little bit too quickly.

"Don't worry, I know that you're not a pedophile," he said, rolling his eyes. Vermouth relaxed and took another drag from her cigarette.

"Well then, good night," Charlie said and placed the boy at the back seat before taking the driver's seat. Vermouth unexpectedly too the shotgun seat and put on her seat belt, her cigarette gone.

"What do you think you're doing?" Charlie asked with anger and annoyance at her action, but he knew that he couldn't murder her freely because she was their boss' favorite.

"Boss got a new job for you," she said coolly, waiting patiently as the car heated up.

"About time," he muttered sarcastically. Vermouth looked at him in mock amusement.

"You're to replace Snake… and find Pandora."

"WHAT?!" Charlie asked, genuinely surprised.

"Snake's already caught by the police. And all because of _you_ ," she said, looking at him pointedly.

"So?!"

"So it's naturally your job to fill in Snake's place. Plus, you've got nothing to do most of the time anyways, so I doubt that you have any kind of objection here."

Charlie growled, disagreeing vehemently, but finally said, "Fine…"

They then drove off into the night with Conan sleeping at the back.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Auuuuuugh my right shoulder hurts a lot… And god, it hurts! So, what did you guys think? You didn't expect him to be unconscious for five days, huh? Well once again, the APTX is at fault, so that's that. And if you haven't figured it out yet, I think I'm enjoying giving you guys cliff hangers… Well sort of, for this chapter.**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N**_

 _ **Haeyhaeyhaeyhaeyhaeyhaey… I'm quoting from my friend! (Funky Mama XD) Okayy, so I got a bit distracted here… Well, yeah. Oh, and to mjclarck, Yes, I do realize that he's getting kidnapped waaaay too many times here. But I don't know, I just like it when Kaito has to search for him… XD I'm so bad.**_

 _ **Sorry I was late in this time's update DX I wanted to do Memory (a character of mine, you can see it in stufaupdates (check my profile for the link)) and I couldn't help it! She's just worth everything (even though she's just a character in my story). Plus, I didn't know from whom I should start (Ran? Aoko? Kaito?), so... Yeah. Welp, enjoy~**_

"Just a little bit more…" she said, her long, straight, red-hued hair flew everywhere around the circle. Her red, red eyes were blazing, seeing something no one else would be able to see. "His time is almost up…"

Her arm lifted and her finger pointed towards something invisible.

"Yes…" she mumbled, her lips twisting into a smirk. "Very close indeed…"

Red eyes blazed as fire suddenly erupted, sending Lucifer back to where he belong. She watched, as the future unfolded in front of her eyes.

* * *

Kaito opened the door to his house, yawning. The dark sky was slowly lighting up, the sun not yet up.

"Kaito!"

He hummed in acknowledgement as he turned towards his childhood friend. "Mou, Kaito! You shouldn't go out until dawn!" she scolded, her hands on her hips. That was when Kaito noticed her outfit.

"Ahoko, are you going out somewhere?" he asked, curious.

"Yep, Ran and the kids invited me to visit Conan-kun! You're not coming?" she asked, patting her knee-length dress. Kaito shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

"Ran-nee-chan!" Ayumi called cheerfully. Ran glanced up from her watch and smiled at her. "Morning, Ayumi-chan. Where're the others?"

"Mitsuhiko-kun and Genta-kun needed to do something first before meeting up with us. Ai-chan and Agasa-hakase are gonna come in a few minutes," she reported with a pout.

"Eeh? So you came alone?" Ayumi nodded. "But that's dangerous!" _Considering what had happened…_ Ran added in her head. Ayumi muttered a small sorry, and Ran placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Well, at least you got to me safely," she said brightly, and Ayumi nodded enthusiastically, relief clearly evident in her eyes.

"Ran!"

"Aoko!" Ran called back, waving her arms. Aoko ran up to her, Kaito following lazily behind her. "Eh? Kaito-kun? Weren't you supposed to be with Conan-kun?" Ran asked with a frown when she saw the magician.

"Aah, yeah… Some things happened and I had to go away…" he said sheepishly.

"Ooooi, Ayumi!" Genta called, running with Mitsuhiko hot on his heels. "Genta, Mitsuhiko!" she called back cheerfully.

A few minutes later, Haibara and Agasa came, and they all set off to go to the hospital.

* * *

The first thing he thought about was the coldness which hit his arms. _'Kaito must've forgotten to close the window…'_ he thought with a nonexistent frown. The next thing he thought was how the bed under him was… not hospital-like.

He'd been in the hospital for many times now, and he knew how hospital beds feel like, like the back of his hand.

The third thing he thought, which was the most worrying of all, was the fact that he could hear Vermouth's voice.

No, no, that wasn't supposed to be possible, but he's hearing it. He knew at that point that he was _not_ half-asleep. Yet, he stayed quiet, unmoving. He took shallow, slow breaths just so whoever it was (he deeply hoped _not_ Vermouth) wouldn't notice that he'd woken up.

He cracked open an eye, just a sliver bit, to see and assess his surroundings.

It seemed like an apartment room, or someone's house that looks like an apartment room. There was a huge window to his right, showing a skyscraper-filled city scene. The lights were on in each windows outside, yet the sky looked slightly purple and orange, which meant that it was early morning.

On a small table next to the bed, his glasses lay, near a small vase which consists of only water. To his left, two chairs were facing him. Behind them was a cupboard, two doors, and a table which only had a box of something on top.

He was _definitely not_ in the hospital.

He let out a resigned sigh. How many times have he been kidnapped nowadays? Ever since remembering bit by bit about his relationship with Kaito? This was by no normal standards considered as normal.

But then again, shrinking into a first grade primary school kid w from a high school teen wouldn't be called normal, right?

Seeing that the voices came from the other side of one of the doors, he decided to just get up and look around some more for a better view. He took his glasses and checked it over and found that it wasn't altered in anyway.

Which means that if anyone (read; Kaito and Haibara) would start a search for him, they should be able to track him down.

Putting the glasses on, he got out of bed, thankful for the carpet floor. He was barefoot, and judging by the room temperature which caressed his exposed arm, it would be cold if his feet touched the wooden floor undoubtedly underneath the carpet.

He looked out the window and saw that he was still somewhere in Beika, thankfully. He took in his surroundings with a sharp eye, determined to take everything into the back of his mind for later use. The door slammed open, which made him jump a little.

"Ara? Conan-kun, you're awake already?"

He felt his blood drain when he saw Vermouth in the door way (Charlie was somewhere behind her). Her tight-fitting black leather jacket and skinny jeans made her white skin look brighter. Her clear azure eyes was of the same shade as his, and her long wavy blond hair was, as always, let loose.

Between her fingers was a cigarette, and from the length of it, she'd been smoking for a while. He regarded her with surprising calmness he didn't know he had.

"Vermouth."

"That's it, Silver Bullet?" she asked, her smirk betraying her hurt tone. His lips twisted at the corners, matching her own, as he replied, "Yep."

"I thought we'd have a longer conversation," she said, shaking her head, her words in a tsk-tsk-tsk tone. Conan shrugged innocently.

"Well, there _are_ some questions in which I know you wouldn't want to answer…"

Vermouth gave him an amused look, her smirk never leaving her face. When she didn't make a move to say anything, Conan continued, "Well, I'll ask _something_ at least… Why are you here, Vermouth?"

"Such a rare and weird question, Silver Bullet," she said with a shrug. "I'm here because of boss' orders." And she left it at that. He gave her a raised eyebrow, but she wouldn't budge.

"Well, I'd advise that you meet your kidnapper first, although…" she trailed off, turning her whole body preparing to leave, "I guess you two have already met."

A chuckle sounded from beyond the doorway, which he deduced where Charlie should be. "Nicely put, Vermouth. But why Silver Bullet?"

Vermouth tsk-ed at him, as if scolding him, yet with a certain level of, what, fondness? He couldn't put it, but it was as if she was acting like a sister. _'That's new,'_ he mused.

"You have much to learn, Tequila," she said in an alluring tone which made Conan shudder. He'd seen before what happened the last time she used that tone, and he didn't want to voice it any other way than… disturbing.

"You'll see," she said, waving her hand and walking out of the room. Charlie replaced her place and sat in a chair facing the bed, and watched him with apt attention.

His fingers suddenly felt cold, and some sort of dread filled him. He wasn't supposed to be alone with this man, in one room. No, that was way too dangerous. He returned the man's attention with his own weary one.

The man seemed to relax after sitting down, his body language said so. His eyes analyzed him like a hungry predator, one which reminded him of Kaito's eyes when—He stopped the thought right then and there.

"Charlie," he said in acknowledgement.

"Conan-kun," he said back, his eyes still on him. "I can guess how you're connected to Kaito, thus connecting you to Snake. I can also guess how you're connected to Gin, which resulted in your… body change… and your possible connection with Sherry… But Vermouth?"

Conan shook his head, letting his bangs hide his eyes for a moment. "Truth to be told, it's really none of your concern, because I also don't want to talk about it. Let's just say that getting connected to Gin would eventually end up with connecting with Vermouth."

Charlie gave him a look, in which he shrugged it off and made his way to the box on the table.

"Sedatives, sleeping pills, toxin drugs… and many more. Care to tell me why an aphrodisiac is smuggled between all these?" he asked innocently, rummaging through the collection of drugs. Charlie immediately got up in alarm.

Conan took a certain pill and investigated it.

"Cyanide pill. Fast-acting and highly toxic. One more step forward, I eat this," he said in a clipped tone, his eyes watched him sharply. Charlie froze immediately, unsure what to do. Conan offered him a tight smile and a shrug before returning to rummaging through the mass of pills and liquid-drugs.

At some point, there was one white and silver liquid which caught his attention. It had a very, very small label. All he managed to read was 'APTX's 4' before he felt a hand cover his whole face, and a whiff of sleeping gas caught him off-guard.

* * *

"Eh?!" Ran said, her surprise gaining the attention of almost every person in the hospital lobby. The nurse looked guilty, letting her eyes stray from Ran's azure eyes. "Y-yes… T-this morning, we f-found his bed… empty…"

"And you didn't tell any of us?" Kaito asked, letting his poker face take care of showing a serious expression instead of the panicked one he would surely show if he loosen his grip on expressions.

The nurse shook her head. "The phone lines were cut, and there's no signal in the hospital's perimeter… The technicians are still working on it…" she said, this time with more confidence and worry, replacing her earlier fear and nervousness.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Haibara take out a pair of familiar glasses and run out with the Detective Boys hot on her heels.

"How far?"

"Eh?" the nurse blinked.

"The no-signal perimeter?"

"Hmm… until around the apartment one block away," she said, looking at a small note she conjured from her pocket. Kaito and Ran shared a look, and Aoko looked positively worried and suspicious.

Ran might not know… or at least suspect who Conan was, but Aoko's suspicion had been nurtured since the first time she called Shinichi and found that Conan was the one who picked it up.

' _Could it be… that the people which made him small had captured him?!'_ she thought worriedly, even though the thought of Shinichi shrinking still felt foreign to her.

They all stepped out of the hospital, joining the Detective Boys at the intersection. They all had the same thought; _'No matter who took him, Conan is in danger.'_

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **IT'S SHORT! AGAIN! Sigh… Sorry guys, quoting Naden (another friend of mine), I (sort of) lost my gay… More like I worked it off this morning when I saw a very beautiful morning haze. I got too hyper and ended up jumping everywhere and… well, I couldn't do much afterwards.**_

 _ **One ice cream and pudding later, this crappy chapter was what came out… But honestly, it's got what you need to know… for the next chapter. ;) I'll make it up for the next one, promise! Forgive me for making Conan get kidnapped waaaaay too many times!**_

 _ **Oh, and to a(n extremely long) review Guest left, I totally agree with you! I don't tolerate rape and such, and honestly, I have a somewhat sadistic mind when it comes to torture… though rest assured, I will never do it in real life!**_

 _ **Thanks for reading~**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N**_

 _ **Was the last chapter that obvious? Like, seriously, blatantly obvious? Ha! But you're wrong on that assumption! (Although to be honest I don't know what assumption you guys have~)**_

 _ **Hey people! Welcome to another new chapter… which I don't know what you'd think of it, so please don't be shy to tell me~ And enjoy~**_

It was around midnight.

And he didn't feel good at all.

He opened his eyes and immediately, a feeling of disgust attacked him mercilessly, making him feel nausea. Jumping off of the bed, he ran to the door which led him to the bathroom (just like he thought it would).

The bathroom was standard, although it seemed to have been made just for short people, so he easily reached the sink. He was too busy heaving whatever was left in his stomach to take in the layout of the bathroom.

There was a black fluffy carpet on the floor, right beside a drawer which held clean towels, right next to the sink. A mirror filled the space between the sink counter and the ceiling, continuing until the door and the other side of the wall. There was a glass wall which separated the sink place with the shower and toilet section of the space.

The walls were decorated with swirly patterns, their white contrast to the black shades of the rest of the tiles. The swirly black-and-white theme, if anything, made him even more nauseous.

His whole body felt disgusting, as if someone had touched him all over, save for the bandaged part of his torso. He left the bathroom in search of clean bandages and spare clothes before returning to take a shower. As water pelted his face, he closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the water seep into his bones.

He looked at himself in the mirror across the bathroom. Nothing gave him evidence of what he felt, except for the paler skin in which the bandage covered him before.

He used a lot of soap to scrub his whole body, trying to get the disgusting feeling off of him, but to no avail. In the end, he nearly spent two hours in the bathroom just to bathe, and when he got out, he found that outside, dawn had started spilling, lighting the unlit room.

And he couldn't find the drug-filled box anywhere.

He cursed his luck and himself for letting his guard down so easily, just because he had cyanide in his hands.

… Right, he had cyanide in his hand before the sleeping gas put him to sleep. Where did it go?

He walked over to his bed and searched for the green-blue pill which had tiny letters spelling 'Cyanide', and found it under a fold of the unmade bed's cover. Pocketing it in one of his borrowed pants' pockets, he made for the room's door which led outside, not forgetting to get his glasses.

The door was open, unexpectedly, and he found a living room with the TV on, showing late-night news about a new KID heist notice (which, admittedly, perked his interests up as he listened attentively for the details, yet he was also paying lots of attention to his surroundings).

He made mental notes as he put it in the back of his mind for later deciphering.

* * *

Haibara and co had been following the red dot on the glasses, leading them to a street filled with skyscrapers, before the dot disappeared. She let out a 'tch' before turning back to the others.

"Edogawa's glasses batteries must've died just now," she said coolly. Kaito got on to her façade, because he caught the panic beneath all that calm exterior. The other kids were sent home far before, fearing that this search mission might turn out to be dangerous.

"Oh no… It's getting late…" Ran said, sharing Aoko's worried look.

"Ugh… Dad's gonna get angry at me for this…" Aoko said with a hint of dissatisfaction. Kaito gave her a look, which she missed completely, but was caught by Haibara.

"What are you gonna do now, oh great thief?" she asked in a quiet voice, careful so that she wasn't heard by the two other girls in the group who were starting to share their worries with each other.

"You both can just go home, if you want to," Kaito said to them. "You know, if you're so worried," he added hastily when he saw the two girls' look.

"But Conan-kun is far more important," Ran said with determination.

"And we will never abandon him," Aoko added.

"You should know better, _Kaito-nii-san_ ," Haibara said, slightly drawling in her 'Haibara' manner.

"Excuse me for suggesting something you don't have to do," Kaito huffed, mock-offended. His eyes then scanned their surroundings, and a twist in his lips went unnoticed by inattentive eyes.

"I've got a suggestion. I know of someone near here who will undoubtedly let us take refuge for the night. What do you say?"

"You mean…" Ran and Aoko shared a look, "staying at a hotel?"

"Who knows?" he said with a mischievous grin on his face which made the other two squirm under the looks. Haibara only let out an inaudible sigh, yet she was smirking anyways.

* * *

"Kai-chaaaaaan!"

The moment they stepped into the building, the manager came out, running and throwing her hands at Kaito, enveloping him into a bear hug. "Oh my, how you've grown! I haven't seen you since—"

"Two months ago. Really," he cut her, "you shouldn't throw yourself at me like that, Auntie."

"Aaw, you're so like Toichi in terms of coldness…" she said, complaining. "Aoko!" she called brightly when she saw the girl.

"Hello, Aunt Circe," she said, bowing. Circe gave her a kiss on the cheek before turning to Ran and Haibara.

"Aaaaand who might these be?" she asked inquiringly, her eyes analyzing the two with apt attention.

"I'm Mouri Ran, Aoko's friend. This is Haibara Ai," she said introducing the little scientist, who bowed with an expression which betrayed nothing.

"Hmm, quite mature-looking for a child…." Circe observed, at which Kaito snorted at and Haibara glared at him for it. "You, on the other hand," Circe's attention then went to Ran, "looks so much like Aoko… and much more child-like than this girl here, hm? Tell me, you two obviously aren't related. How come you're here with her without her guardian?"

"Aah, well—" Ran tried, but Haibara immediately got up her child act.

"Agasa-hakase had some things to do, so he left me in Ran-nee-chan's care," she fidgeted. Kaito gave her an amused look. Her acting was flawless.

Her head was slightly bowed, her eyes darted around the lobby, not looking at Circe. Her feet shifted a little and her hands were behind her, her voice quivering just slightly. She was perfectly depicting the 'usually-mature-but-actually-nervous-child' act.

"Aaw, I see what you mean there," Circe cooed, completely fooled by her acting, and patted her head in some sort of comforting gesture. "You be careful with her, alright," she said, giving a pointed look to Kaito.

"Yes, yes," he said in a slightly desperate-like manner. Circe nodded and stepped away to face all of them.

"So, what brings you all here?"

"Well," Kaito started. "Long story short, we're looking for Haibara's friend, and it's gotten quite late so…"

"You want to stay the night here?" Circe asked, completely ecstatic, if her wide eyes and face-splitting smile were anything to go by.

* * *

He found out that he was alone in the flat, not that he wanted it to be crowded, though. But nevertheless, he was thankful for the lack of Charlie. He had a feeling that he didn't want to see him at all right now.

Especially after the feeling he got when he first woke up.

He shuddered at the possibilities of what had happened whilst he was asleep. It was well into the morning by now, the clock telling him that it was nine in the morning.

The front door was locked, and the knob had been altered so that it could only be unlocked from the outside.

First thing he would do, should he get out of that place, was to tell the manager of this place about the genius-ness of the whole door lock thing. He could not believe that anyone would rent a room in the building if all door's locks were like that.

Then again, he was in a Black Org's room. Anything is possible, if he took that into account.

The door slammed open, hitting his forehead as a man flew into the room. He was thrown to the wall, and his head hit it with force which made him feel dizzy. But the main problem was the man who actually, quite literally flew inside, thus making the door almost fall off of its' hinges.

Almost.

Silver caught his immediate attention as everything was nearly blurry and spinning from the hit, his eyes widening in fear and surprise. Why was _he_ here?

Silver, cold eyes glinted coldly, despite the warm morning rays which flooded the room with light. The room temperature fell a few degrees colder, and he shuddered a little as those exact eyes zeroed on him.

"Well, well, Tequila, I didn't know that you'd be having a… client this early in the morning," Gin said with a sneer, his tone laced with disgust. Conan felt himself pale, his heart beating faster and faster in panic. He wasn't ready for another encounter with the devil himself.

When Gin walked closer and closer to the detective, he could feel the ice the man was emitting. He couldn't move at all. He was frozen in place. Kneeling, he stared at him, their eyes of the same level.

A hand gripped his jaws, more tightly than necessary, making him wince, as the black clothed man lifted him with ease.

"Such clear, blue eyes…" he said in a deceptive tone, as if he truly admired the azure eyes the boy possessed. "Looks _very_ familiar, though…"

"Aniki," Vodka said from the door, a cellphone in one hand. Gin only nodded, and Conan caught the terrified gaze Charlie gave him.

"This is his own fault for being here, realize that, Tequila," Gin said with a malicious smirk.

"No! If you do that—"

"What?" he snarled, seemingly angry that he was interrupted.

Charlie gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing quite visibly for everyone to see. At his fear, Gin smirked.

"Afraid to lose s toy, Tequila? Quite interesting and twisted, don't you think?" he said as he laid Conan on a table, never taking his hands off of his jaws, nor loosening them at all. "Vodka."

The unspoken order was immediately caught by his partner, and Vodka immediately went inside in search of something. Moments later, Charlie found himself bound tightly, making him unable to move, facing Conan as he saw Vodka hand Gin something.

"Watch and see, Tequila, for those who ever dares to even see us," he said evilly. Conan felt an impending doom, which made his whole body, which was already cold from fear and panic, get even colder.

"Aniki," Vodka said, handing him a familiar white and silver liquid in a vial.

"You see, Tequila… A certain someone ran away before completing this particular drug… and another one completed it, giving it an over kill result. What do you think if someone drinks it? Of course, the obvious answer is…" He pulled at Conan's lower lip, making him crack open his lips just slightly, but enough to make whatever liquid go through. "Death."

Conan shuddered visibly at that, and Gin and Vodka's dark grins surely didn't help either. The vial's mouth came closer to his lips then…

* * *

Circe had a spare room ready, as she always had for unexpected, important customers.

Or Kaito and his parents, actually.

Problem was; it only had two bedrooms. They ended up rooming in this manner; Ran with Aoko, and Kaito with Haibara. "Perfect," Kaito drawled, feeling a little bit helpless at the smirk the little scientist gave him.

"Well, you can't room up with us," Aoko said with a pout, and as an afterthought, added, "Pervert." Kaito rolled his eyes at that.

In the end, they all got too tired to argue and banter anymore, so they all retired to their respectful bedrooms. The next day, Kaito woke up early, way too early for his own good. But when he saw where Haibara was, he knew why he woke up, being the light sleeper he was.

She was leaning on the door frame which led to the living room area, a mug of warm coffee (café au lait, if his nose wasn't mistaken) in her hands, her eyes fixed onto the TV, yet he knew somehow that she was aware of his every movement.

Getting up, Haibara took a sip before looking at him, who was on his way to get bathrobes to take a bath. "Great job, Mr. International Thief Who Wants To Get The Locking Hearts Jewel," she greeted casually.

"It's on TV already?" he asked, abandoning his earlier task. She shrugged and left the room. Moments later, Kaito emerged from the said room, complete in his clothes from yesterday and a slightly damp hair, joining the scientist in the living room area.

"We need to get a plan," she said, her eyes still on the TV, yet her attention was still on Kaito who was making hot chocolate. Where he kept the secret stash of instant hot chocolates, she didn't even want to start thinking about it.

After all, magicians have their own ways.

"For one thing, we do know that he's somewhere in this street," Kaito said with a shrug as he sat down next to her. "Obviously," she said, taking another sip, her other free hand turned off the TV.

"But where is he? And we also need to do this quickly. Who knows what that Charlie guy would do to him."

Kaito grimaced at the possibilities flashing in his head, keeping in mind that Charlie was also a Black Org member. The horrors escalated tenfold with that in the equation.

"Plus," Haibara continued, ignoring the grimace, "Charlie knows that he's Shinichi, and what would happen if he actually told Gin?"

"Gin?" Kaito asked, his look only received a side glance before her eyes focused on her coffee again, her eyes contemplating.

"… You must know Snake and Merlot… Met them, even," Haibara started, tiling her mug this way and that, looking at her own reflection. Kaito nodded, his eyes glanced at the door which led to Aoko and Ran's room.

Haibara caught his glance and said, "They're asleep, don't worry."

He only nodded slowly at that. He decided to not ask her of anything much for her methods because he knew what her answer will be anyways; an unimpressed glare at most.

"Gin… is from the same organization as them… although they're obviously not interested in killing you for a gem, that much is obvious," she said calmly, careful not to reveal anything about her past life. Fortunately, Kaito said nothing, only intent on listening.

"… and he's one of the reasons Shinichi became Conan," she finalized, placing her empty mug on the table. Kaito looked contemplative, letting everything sink in.

From her explanation, he could tell that she knows of the Organization intimately. Either she's a spy, or she's someone related to them. Judging by her daily mature act, he suspected that she's somehow in the same boat as Shinichi, though he doesn't have anything to confirm it.

"Well, now that the hard part's done, let's go on analyzing—"

Her words were interrupted by a thud and crash from next door. Haibara's eyes were filled with mixed emotions, and Kaito's face was blank.

The two ran out of the flat with Haibara in the lead. She then stopped him with a hand, and her body language became weary. He knew that something was not right, so he complied.

He could hear murmurs from a distance, and footfalls getting fainter. Once they stepped away from the door, Kaito's eyes widened when he saw Charlie, rounding up the corner. The man didn't seem to notice, though.

Haibara moved first, going into the closed door, opening it with ease. For a moment, he wondered how she knew that the door would be open, but then dismissed it, sensing far more important matters was just about to reveal itself.

He heard Haibara's gasp and came just in time to catch her from falling. He then saw the reason why; a dead body with a shot straight through the head.

Well, he knew he shouldn't be surprised, seeing that he knew that Charlie should be connected to Snake and his cold-blooded companions, there's bound to be a murder or two when present. But wasn't it Conan's job to justify those murders?

Kaito shook his head. That was beyond the point. The point is, that Charlie was in the same apartment building as them, and that spelled 'Conan' and 'Trouble' in plain sight.

There was a computer with its' CPU broken to bits, and its' monitor on the ground, broken beyond repair. That's what must've caused the thud and crashing sounds.

"Kudou-kun is here," Haibara muttered, her words not eluding Kaito's sharp ears.

"Eh?"

Her eyes turned sharp, the teal orbs filled with fear and some sort of heavy determination. "Conan's here," she said, and Kaito couldn't help but notice the nickname change from 'Kudou-kun' to 'Conan'. He stored the observation away for later investigation.

Right now, the knowledge of Conan being in the same building as him was enough to fill him to the brim with adrenaline.

He rushed towards the stairs where he last saw Charlie headed towards, Haibara hot on his heels.

Going up one level, they came upon a hallway with Vodka in it, hands in his pockets and a mad grin on his face. Haibara instantly gasped and immediately stopped, grabbing Kaito's hand in the process.

"Wha—"

"Sh!" she said, her eyes narrowing in seriousness. Kaito complied, watching as Vodka entered a room. They crept up the said room, keeping their backs on to the wall, and peeked inside.

"Y-you bastard…" came Charlie's voice when their eyes searched for Conan's figure, which was hidden by Gin's body. He threw an empty vial in Haibara's direction, who watched the vial's label and looked like she was about to faint soon.

"Are you curious how the drug will work, Tequila?" came Gin's cold, mirthless voice. "They shrink, and shrink… Well, not their physical body, but their organs, until said organs won't be able to support a body anymore… And when that happens… they die."

Gin left his spot, letting Conan fall to the ground unceremoniously, his hands clutched within his curled up body. Vodka went to Charlie's side, taking the position in front of Gin. "Well, then…" Gin said happily, ignoring Conan completely.

The boy cracked open an eye and saw the two figures who were staring at him in horror. He very well knew better to not make their presence known to the men in black, so he very painfully crawled over.

"Kudo—"

"What do you guys think you're doing?!" he whispered, pain clear in his voice. "You guys shouldn't—"

"But you—that… that vial was…!" Haibara said unable to make full sentences in her shock and fear.

"That's not important!" he whispered harshly. "You guys shouldn't even be here! Especially you, Kaito!" he said through gritted teeth. Only now did he feel the potion take effect—his heart beat faster, his bones felt painfully hot, as if on fire, his limbs felt as if it were getting longer… or shorter. He couldn't tell through the pain.

His whole body pulsed painfully, vaguely aware of the sounds behind him.

"Hey, boy," came Gin's cold voice, startling him by his close proximity to his back. "How come you're not dead yet?" Gray eyes and azure ones met, and, despite the fiery pain, he felt the world freeze as if in eternal snow.

Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice the two hiding right around the corner. Conan managed a grin, but didn't say anything. Gin gave him his own cold grin, the grin where murderers show when they are expecting to kill their victims and expect some sort of fun out of it.

"He's tougher than you think, Gin," Charlie spat. "Why else did I choose him out of many other children present that day?"

"Tch… Shut up, Tequila. Had it not been for boss' orders to not kill you, we would've done that far before. Besides," he continued, this time his fingers caressed his sweat slicked hair, "I don't want to take on the job of KID hunting…"

"Ya' got that right, Aniki," Vodka said with a somewhat saner tone. "Eh. Hold on, Aniki, isn't he… that KID killer kid?" he then asked.

"That won't matter," Gin said with a smirk, "because he's dying anyways. Vodka, come. We're done here." The cold-blooded murderer then stood, stepping over Conan in the process of leaving the room. Vodka followed, and then the two were just… gone.

Conan cursed internally at his inability to just get up and catch them, but the pain he felt right after was harsh enough for him to black out.

Kaito was, when Gin stood, dragged by Haibara back to the stairs, where they chased after the men in black, and proceeded to get one floor above. When the sound of footsteps subsided, continuing to go downwards, until it faded completely with a click.

Kaito then rushed to Conan's side, who laid unmoving despite the massive perspiration evident on his whole body. Haibara knelt next to him and started dragging him to a bedroom, and he helped.

"This is bad. Consuming that drug twice is just… bad is an understatement," she said, quickly rummaging through the whole room, a phone in her hand. "Kaito, strip him."

"W-wh—"

"Hurry!" she yelled urgently.

* * *

Everything was swirling, and he stood there, all alone in the middle of it all. There was a whole lot of commotion, or it was his ears ringing. He couldn't know. He didn't know. The fact that he didn't know unsettled him.

"Kaito?" he called, yet his own voice echoed back. He frowned and called him once more, but this time, there was no response—no echo, no resounding sounds, just… nothing.

Everything was still swirling, and he felt sick to the stomach. It made him dizzy, dizzy… dizzy. He couldn't see pas the veil of swirl. He vaguely remembered the bathroom's tiles from this morning. Or was it yesterday?

How long has he been in this swirling place?

How did he end up here? He couldn't remember, but he knew that it was something bad… What's bad again? Why was he there? What's his name? Who was the person he called for when he first became lucid?

Again, he felt dizzy and nauseous. He wanted to throw up, but how?

He took a step forward, and winced when he felt something on his back. He touched it and found red, red blood on his fingers… wait, blood? When did he get hurt? Definitely not in this swirly place… What was he doing again…?

He shook his head, because he didn't know. How will he know? He didn't know. How did he get here? He didn't know. Who was he? He didn't know… He didn't know, he didn't know, he didn't know…

He did not know anything…

The swirls disappeared, and he was left in a black, black place… he could see himself, but there was nothingness up ahead. How did he know that there's nothing ahead?

For the last time, he didn't know.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Ahhah… I wanted to give Gin the Sarcasm—Get Scared impression (it's a song). But I guess I failed? No? I don't know, but I recommend that song… not really. Only if you're into rock music. Hmm… Sorry if it's all eh… But I broke my record! It's like, 14 pages and 4k words~**_

 _ **I also wonder why my parents don't want me to continue writing… Anyone know? Or, like, some theories? Anyone? Welp, thanks for reading! ;) I appreciate review and favs and follows and... well everything~**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N**_

 _ **Heya people! Sorry it took a while for this chapter… Reason; a novel. Yups, I've been reading… lots of drama novels… And I sorta got frustrated because of all that useless drama, but I ended up reading it all anyway…:P Oh well, here's the next chapter~**_

He couldn't help but just watch… and watch and watch as the little detective slowly died. He didn't like being useless, helpless… but what could he do? Getting bound fairly tightly was something he'd hate for a lifetime.

Suddenly, Haibara was in front of him, her stature small but imposing. He hated children like her. They were too… mature for his liking.

"… Tequila," she said with some sort of familiarity he couldn't place in a child like her. He locked eyes with her, her teal eyes which seemed to burn right through his skull, analyzing his whole body. Mind. Soul.

"Hmm, you sound like you know me very well," he said. Haibara stayed passive, her expression betraying nothing. _'Of course,'_ she thought, near-mused, _'you're the talk of the Organization before I quit. Every tid bit of your peculiar interest in children… is very hard to miss.'_

But that wasn't the point she wanted to benefit by from the man. "Where is it?"

Charlie cocked his head innocently, saying, "Where's what?"

Haibara kept a level head. "Cyanide's counter poison. I know you have it."

"How?" Now, he was genuinely surprised. Haibara rolled her eyes. "I found this," she said, handing out a small, round pill with words carved on it; 'Cyanide'.

"Knowing Conan, he must've threatened to take it in case you wanted to do something, which means that you might… no, must have the counter for it."

Charlie said nothing, but hell, that gaze was penetrating him all too well. Eventually, he shrugged and cocked his head to one side to indicate a small bag with something in it. Glancing at the bag, she gave the man a small smile of gratitude and took the bag, returning to Kaito's side.

For a sliver of second, he wondered about the small scientist, not that he knew her to that extent, but he had a nagging feeling that he's seen her somewhere, and not the blown-up lab. He shook his head. He'll get down to it when he had more time…

That is _if_ he can get time… He knew from experience that he might be unable to get it at all, though...

* * *

"Help me get him drink these," Haibara said nonchalantly, as if drinking cyanide is the norm for an already-dying person.

"You can't be—"

One glare, and Kaito shut his mouth. She was serious, and he should be too.

Two pills. One deadly, the other its' counterpart, its' neutralizer. He wondered what good it'd do if he actually made his little detective drink both at the same time. Taking the offered glass Haibara shoved at him, he took the two pills and took some water in his mouth before he leaned down and gave it to Conan.

A mouth-to-mouth was what he needed right now—no way in hell can Conan drink something in his current condition. With a finger, he massaged the detective's throat, encouraging him to swallow, and he did.

Haibara sat in a chair near the bed and waited, seemingly cool, but he could see that façade cracking because of the perspiration forming on her forehead.

"Are you sure we should give him a deadly poison?" he asked her, brows met in concern. She raised an eyebrow in an attempt to show amusement, but failed, so she returned to her neutral expression.

"Did you really think that the organization would make a deadly cyanide pill, consisting of _only_ cyanide?" she asked, but her tone was in the borderline of stating it. "The poison number 20893, that particular pill you made Conan drink, is one of the deadliest pills in the Organization."

"You can't be—"

"But," she held up a hand to stop whatever protests Kaito might let out, "it's deadly because the contents could become a catalyst to the cyanide. Incidentally, other than the cyanide, the rest of the composition—or at least some of them—are the ingredients I used for his temporary antidotes."

"Then… you're not sure that he might recover?!" he asked, surprised that she could be so… so…

"The chances aren't high," she admitted, her eyes narrowing as she tried to hold back the tears which sprung from the admission, "but it's the best we have."

Kaito looked downwards, feeling somewhat guilty for accusing her—was that even considered as accusing? He thought not—and muttered a somewhat inaudible "I'm sorry."

Conan's eyes flew open that moment, and he let out a pained scream. Kaito squeezed his hand and brushed his bangs away from his face, glancing at Haibara in worry. She had a serious expression, but she stayed in her seat, watching.

His eyes looked everywhere, but not actually seeing. He tossed and turned in an attempt to dampen the pain, but to no avail. Kaito watched as the small hand in his elongated, enlarging, fitting his hand like the perfect fit for a missing puzzle piece.

The small chest, which still heaved, broadened, and his legs returning to its' previous length. With a last scream, the detective passed out, leaving a thief and a scientist gaping as they saw the miracle right in front of them.

De-aging was one thing. But returning to his previous age was another one entirely, and Haibara knew best how tiny the possibilities of him surviving everything despite it being their best choice.

The blood which seeped into the mattress startled them out of their stupor.

"The wound reopened," Haibara said matter-of-factly, going away in search of usable, clean bandages. Kaito could only nod. His mind was elsewhere, namely the detective in front of him. He was back, _Shinichi_ was back.

The gentle rise and fall of his chest, the knowledge that he's still breathing, alive, calmed him down. With Haibara's help, they re-stitched the wound close, and re-bandaged it.

* * *

"Mou… They left without us!" Aoko said, pouting. Ran had the same expression on her face, only laced with even deeper worry than the other teen. Then, there was the scream, and Ran immediately stood in attention.

"Wh-what?" Aoko said, a bit startled and scared because the scream sounded… very pained. They went out and saw some other occupants getting out, curious. But when the scream died down, they waited for a few moments, and then shrugged, uncaring.

But Ran knew better. She ran to the elevator and took it to get one floor up, Aoko close behind.

They arrived at an open room. A fleeting thought came to Ran; _'Why aren't there anyone on this floor?'_ but she dismissed it immediately when she saw Charlie, bound by a rope.

"Y-you…!" she said after a while of shocked silence, clearly remembering the blown-up lab. Charlie gave them a sneer but didn't say anything. The two entered cautiously, eyes narrowed and taking in their surroundings everywhere at once.

"So, why did you take him here?" someone asked, startling the two when they saw no one. "You know how dangerous they are, Tequila," she said again, nonchalant.

"What do _you_ know, kid?" he asked, clearly irritated.

Haibara came into view, and she glanced at the two before nodding and returning her gaze on Charlie. "Oh, I know a lot, _Charlie,_ " she corrected herself, not wanting to hint on anything to the two teens. "For one, you seem to be infatuated by children."

Ran gasped, followed by Aoko who placed a hand on her chest, different types of scenarios flashing through their mind which included Conan and Charlie… doing stuff.

"I'd normally trust you to not touch him, knowing who he really is," she whispered quietly, nearly inaudible. "But judging by… the bathroom… I suspect that that's what you did," she said, his time loud enough for Ran to hear it clearly.

"Ai-kun… what do you mean by that?" Ran asked, a slight tremble in her voice indicated how much she's holding back from harming the defenseless man. Haibara was silent for a while, calculating.

"Aoko-nee-chan," she said without looking at the said person.

"W-what is it?"

"… Who was it that answered Kai-nii-san's ex's phone when you called?" she asked, as if that was a widely known fact.

"E-eh…?! W-well… Conan-kun… why is that?" she asked, knowing exactly what the answer is. A smirk thrown her way made her collapse in disbelief. She'd been hoping very adamantly for that assumption to be wrong… But for some reason unknown to her, the scientist's words were like solid ice dumped on her, and she felt… bewildered.

Something like that shouldn't even be possible… right?

"It _is_ possible. It's just… difficult to create," Haibara said. She must've said her thoughts aloud, then.

"What's impossible?" Ran asked, this time very confused.

"Ran-nee-chan… please don't be surprised if the one you find isn't Conan," she said, taking out her vibrating phone. With narrowed eyes, she walked out of the flat.

"…Ran," Aoko said, shakily getting up with the help of the other teen. "Let me… tell you something…"

* * *

Kaito's fingers interlaced with Shinichi's, neither wanting to let go of each other. "Bakaito," Aoko said from the doorway. He only hummed in response, intent on watching the detective's sleeping face. It's been so long since the last time he's seen him, after all.

"So… You knew," she said again after a while of silence.

"… It's obvious… The hints were everywhere. Kinda hard to miss, really," he said nonchalantly.

"I… see," she said quietly. Wait, Aoko was never, _never_ quiet. He turned to see both Ran and Aoko. The one who said the 'I see' was Ran, apparently.

It was quiet, quieter than before. It was suffocating. Kaito looked away. Moments later, Agasa came with what Haibara asked for.

* * *

His throat felt dry, just like his lips and tongue. He felt as if he'd slept for a very long time with an open mouth, which was a really big probability. He moved his lips in an attempt to re-salivate his mouth again.

His eyes couldn't open, as if shut for good, and he felt a sense of panic rise in his chest for a moment, before he regained his composure. If he couldn't see, then he shouldn't worsen everything by panicking. He tested his fingers and toes, curling them and uncurling them.

He could feel it, and a sense of relief flooded him. With a sigh, he kept curling and curling his fingers, until something warm touched one of them.

He wanted to jerk it away, but only managed to tense up a little. He heard someone gasp, before a sigh was heard.

"Geez, if you're awake, you should've told me," a gentle voice said, and he had this extreme urge of want to open his eyes. But still, he couldn't do it. He opened his mouth and tried to call his name. But his tongue was way too stubborn, and his throat was demanding water.

He only managed a small, scratchy sound before he heard a chuckle. A strong arm slithered under him and put him in a sitting position, or something like that, because he felt his head thunk onto a softly beating chest as something touched his lips.

Remembering what had happened with Gin, he jerked involuntarily, wanting to reject whatever it was.

"Don't worry, it's just water," he said softly, calming him down. Little by little, he could feel said water enter his mouth and sliding down his parched throat. Far too soon, though, the water was withdrawn, and he whimpered a little at the loss of oasis.

"… Are you okay?"

He nodded, eyes still fighting to open. There was silence as he kept on trying, but to no avail.

"How long…?" he asked, voice still scratchy.

"Around a few hours," he replied almost immediately. "We're now in your house."

"… I… see," he said with a sigh, relieved.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked after a while. _'Where?'_ he asked himself as he shook his head a little.

Then, a warm hand clasped one of his own, and took it up in a kiss on the knuckles. "Welcome back, Shinichi," he said warmly, and in turn, he felt himself smile tenderly. "Thanks, Kai."

This time, he didn't mind being unable to see, because he was content with Kaito right beside him.

* * *

"Eeeh?! Conan-kun's not coming back anymore?!" Ayumi asked, tears in her eyes.

"You make it sound like he died, Ayumi," Haibara said, not looking in her eyes. They were in Agasa's residence, just chilling out after a tiring day at school. "As I said, Edogawa-kun's parents came and picked him up. Said he's gonna go and continue studying in America."

"But… But he didn't tell us anything!" Genta said with a childish pout-ish expression.

"He didn't know of it until they actually came. It was quite sudden, you see," Agasa said, placing a whole plate of melons on the table. The children dug in to the snack despite their pouty faces, and continued on thinking about Conan.

"Hey, don't get so down," Agasa said gently.

"But…"

"He may have left, but he's still your friend. He'll call once in a while, now won't he?" he said with a genuine smile.

"It'd be a whole different story if he's dead, you see," Haibara said nonchalantly, earning herself a small scold from the professor. "In any case, he'll call you. Of that I'm sure of."

"But… isn't it strange that his parents came when he was kidnapped?" Mitsuhiko said.

"It's because they found out that he's been kidnapped that they came and took him away. It's unsafe for him, they say," the small scientist said with a regretful tone. "But at least, he'll be safe with his parents," Mitsuhiko said after a while, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Well then," Agasa said, a happy face on full force. The children knew what was about to come, and gave him unimpressed laughs and looks. "It's time for what you all have been waiting for… A quiz!"

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Hmm… I don't know guys. I was just a bit ecstatic that I found out what I've been searching for this whole time; checkered tea cookies. And oh, just a question; What do you guys think about Shinichi being Silver Bullet? Like, I mean, Shinichi being a Black Org member? Just askin'~**_

 _ **\- To be continued -**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N**_

 _ **Holla~ To all moslem readers out there (YES I do know that you're out there… somewhere) happy eid mubarak~ What? FYI, I do celebrate those celebrations, y'know (despite what I write from time to time, if not all the time… I'm so sinful…) Other holidays, I don't really celebrate because:**_

 _ **One, I did or do not know the date to their celebrations (No, I don't know when Mother's Day is, Father's Day, Children's Day… Wow, not that I mention it, I really AM ignorant…**_

 _ **Two, I do NOT celebrate deaths. Like Valentine's Day or April's Fools… I do feel sorry for those who died those days, that's why I thought it unfair that I get to be happy when they died such tragic deaths… ;n;**_

 _ **Please don't judge me. Enough on my rants! Enjoy the new chapter~**_

Hakuba stood in the middle of the Task Force, smiling smugly. He hadn't seen Conan even though Kogoro was there, bickering to Nakamori in front of the TV cameras. He silently wondered why. Aoko had told him, days before that Kudou Shinichi was back.

Well, it made international news, actually, because of the extensive period of time he disappeared in. Mysteriously to boot. Fangirls all over the world who knew of his existence, those people who created a forum discussing about him and only him, and the thief who had declared in his newest heist notice about said detective being _his…_

All had screamed for him.

Even he knew that KID, to some extent, had also been searching for the detective-gone-MIA. No, he didn't envy the East Detective. Not really. Well, maybe just a teensy bit? He sighed.

At least he hasn't seen him as of yet, so he couldn't confirm his questions.

"FIVE MORE MINUTES!" Nakamori bellowed, and he immediately became aware of his surroundings. His eyes landed on the Locking Hearts ring; twin rings with rubies on them.

He vaguely remembered the myth where a couple whom wore the rings for a whole week together and never taking it off fell further in love with each other and ended up married. _'Bullshit, there's no such things as love miraculously boosted because of some ring,'_ he thought as a smirk slipped through.

Yet, he found himself silently wishing for something like that.

* * *

Kaito was studying Hakuba's face. A small curl at the edge of his lips went unnoticed by the other guards as Nakamori announced, "FIVE MORE MINUTES!"

The detective seemed unaware.

He pushed a button and heard faint sounds in the distance under the clamor of his fans and Nakamori's shouts. One more minute—and the lights turned off. Thirty more seconds—and he was already on top of the altar which held the twin rings, suspended in mid-air by a string under his feet.

"Three," he announced, and he heard footsteps and confused voices.

"Two."

"KID! SHOW YOURSELF!"

"One… I will, inspector… ZERO!" he shouted and lights fell upon him as if on cue. Cameras were aimed his way and he smirked. His white attire seemingly shone under the light's attention in contrast to the surrounding darkness.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to tonight's heist!" he said with cheer, and his surrounding fans erupted in an ecstatic cheer. With an extremely impossible level of balance, he walked, jumped, skipped onto the invisible strings which went _everywhere._

His eyes caught someone's figure in the crowd and he smiled.

"Well, for tonight, I may need… _assistance…_ Does anyone want to assist me?" he said in a velvety voice which made girls and boys alike visibly swoon. Someone stepped up and said, "Oh my… Shall I assist your heist, Mr. Kaitou KID?"

"Well then, I shall accept," he said semi-thoughtfully and pulled her up.

"What are you planning for tonight, dear thief?" she asked seductively, tracing a finger on his cheek. He gave her a smile and guided her to another strip of string which brought them further away from the jewel.

"Well, Miss Akako," he said with a smirk, slowing down so that the cameras could catch his movements. "I was hoping that you'd know… two certain fabled rings were located in this very room…"

"Oh my. Why would you want those rings?" she asked, host-like.

"Well," he said, twirling her around in some sort of dance-walk. "I'd love to give it to… a certain someone."

"So even you, Mr. Thief, have a special someone…" she said as she circled the man with his help. They ignored the other people who were watching them, screaming in jealousy and anticipation.

"Correct, my friend," he said, releasing her in favor of clapping his hands. She stumbled, but with the help of certain invisible lesser demons, she stayed aloft. Curious noises erupted from the people beneath, defeating Nakamori's normally loud voice.

"My… Why don't you describe that person?" she asked slyly. He smirked, thankful that she came, even though he knew that his preferable choices were either the small scientist or the witch. Or his detective, to be honest.

And he loved how in-sync he was with the witch herself, because all this was out-of-script. More like he didn't have a script at all.

"Sly, aren't you, Ms. Akako?" he said in a 'tsk-tsk-tsk' tone.

"No harm in asking," she shrugged gracefully.

"Naughty," he said in a very seductive tone, smiling to the cameras.

"Oi, KID!" Hakuba shouted from below. The thief landed gracefully in front of him and put a finger under his chin, a hand pushed him from the back so that he was pushed flush against him.

"We-ll," he said jokingly. "What owes me your presence, dear detective from England?"

He pushed him away and crossed his arms, huffing and blushing. "You shouldn't let a lady stand there without protection."

Then his hands were handcuffed. "Are you alright down there, Mr. Thief?" Akako called mockingly.

"You two were in this together?" he said in mock hurt.

"No, we—"

A puff of smoke and his hair turned a hot pink with golden streaks in it. "K-K-KID!" he bellowed in rage. "Sorry, dear detective," he said sweetly. "I'm trying to go find something suitable… for my certain someone."

Akako was suddenly beside him, and he took her wrist and guided him to the highest string.

"What do you think? Do you have any idea where the rings are?"

"Hmm… let's see," she said, loving the attention. "I see something akin to those rings over there," she purred, pointing at the two rings. He went over the two rings he'd purposefully walked further from and examined them.

"It's perfect," he said, picking the two rings tenderly.

He then conjured a bouquet of roses and knelt in from of her. Shouts of jealousy erupted from the crowd of fans.

"Thank you for your assistance, dear Miss Akako," he said lightly, handing her the bouquet. "But now I must take my leave, for I should not keep my special someone waiting," he said and kissed her hand.

Jumping from one string to the other, cutting them as he went, he let out a playful smirk mar his features as he bowed deeply on the highest string.

"I hope that we may meet once more under the beautiful full moon," he said, ending his show before somersaulting far above and over the open window on the roof, leaving the last string to flutter down as Nakamori's shouts and his fans' shouts deafened everyone's ears.

Opening his hang glider, he soared through the night and disappeared from many eyes.

* * *

Shinichi was stunned. No, sorry, understatement. He was more than stunned. Stupefied? Surprised? Shocked? He didn't know.

All he knew was the heat rising onto his face and his light-headedness as he realized what was about to come.

The TV in front of his bed was turned off by a certain scientist, who smirked knowingly. "I guess I'll take my leave then."

"W-wait—"

"What? You want me to stay?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "Sorry, but I'm not interested in what's about to come, inevitably so. Plus, you wouldn't want a certain person with Ran as her initials barge in, demanding more clarification on what had happened with Conan, now do you?"

Shinichi so wanted to bolt out the door to escape, knowing what she'd heavily implied in her words, but he couldn't. Because, one, his wound had finally closed and he was to not strain his muscles for a few months, hence why he was forbidden to go out of his bedroom and why Kaito had been staying in his house—bed—for the last few weeks.

"Well, good night," she said before he could say anything more, and closed the door shut.

Second reason was that he was chained to the bed—how and when did he even have time for this?—"just for tonight," Kaito had said. But it was inconvenient. The length of the chain allowed him for bathroom breaks, however. A TV to be watched, conveniently placed in front of his bed, allowing him to watch the entirety of that night's heist, was all that he could do.

The window to his room opened, jolting him out of his thoughts, and Kaito stepped in, all in his KID glory. His eyes narrowed as they met indigo irises. "Kaito," he said, acknowledging him.

"Ah, good evening Shinichi," he said huskily, sending involuntary shudders through his whole body. "How have you been? Did you enjoy the show?" he asked, sitting right beside Shinichi on his big bed. The dip he caused made Shinichi lean on him.

"Take these off," he said in slight anger, holding up the hand and foot that was cuffed to the floor. Or bed, he couldn't be too sure.

"Why, Shinichi," Kaito said in mock-hurt, taking a colder hand into his gloved ones. "I only wanted you to stay…"

"You only needed to ask me, no need for these!"

"I didn't want you kidnapped anymore," he said as he pecked the detective's lips. "I've learned from experience," he whispered, nipping at his ear, delighting in the shudder which passed his body.

"Well sorry for getting kidnapped once too many times," he huffed, pouting. He felt a breathy chuckle escape the thief's lips as said thief kissed his collarbone.

"I'm still angry about your deal with Snake, you know."

"Please, you're poking on that anger a tad bit too much," he rolled his eyes as Kaito bit his earlobe. "P-plus, what was the 'special someone' show for?"

He hated the stutter.

"Hmm? Did you think it was a lie?" he asked, sighing into his shoulder as he nuzzled it.

"Of course! You needed some sort of excuse for that Akako girl, right? Plus, she's your classmate! You two must've—"he gasped when Kaito sucked on a certain sensitive spot on his neck—"p-planned this from before!"

"Oh, no, Shinichi," he said, licking his neck, ravishing it tenderly as his fingers crept on the detective's knee. "Her being there was a coincidence."

"I'm a detective. I don't believe in coincidences," he said, huffing.

"Then… Lady Luck?" he said, pulling back from his ministrations with a gentle smile. Somewhere along the lines, he'd taken off his hat and monocle.

"You're impossible," he said, rolling his eyes in an attempt to stifle a small growl of need. Kaito only chuckled and left him, walking towards the still-open window and closing it quietly. Shinichi stifled a whimper at the loss of proximity.

"So?" the detective asked after a while of silence. The thief only gave a hum in reply. He rolled his eyes, saying, "The rings. What did you need them for? It's obviously not Pandora."

"Ah, that," he said and finally turned to face Shinichi. He raised an ungloved hand—when did he take those off?!—and under the moonlight glinted a beautiful red on his ring finger.

Shinichi gulped, not knowing what he meant by that gesture.

"You see, Shinichi," he started, purposefully and agonizingly slow, making him anticipate his next words. "I wanted to do something…"

"Like Haibara said," he said dreadfully. He knew for sure that he wasn't prepared for anything the scientist implied. Kaito looked at him blankly, long enough for the dread to grow, before shaking his head.

"No…" he said, dragging the 'o'.

"Then what?" he asked, honestly curious now. Kaito smirked.

"If I said that it's for a myth, then I know that you won't believe me," he chuckled, running a hand through his bird's nest hair as Shinichi frowned.

"Myths are myths. You can't confuse them with reality, Kaito," he said.

"Exactly." He then went over an unused cup and poured the still lukewarm tea Haibara brought in minutes before KID brought Akako into the heist act and sipped on it loudly. "I was just thinking… that even if for a week…" he mumbled, making Shinichi strain his ears to catch his words.

"But I bought it already, so it was more of a show rather than stealing," he said, turning to the detective with his eyebrows knotted, reaching him in two long strides and sitting onto the bed.

"Kudou Shinichi," he said seriously. Shinichi tensed up at the seriousness and seeming urgency of it. "I need you."

Shinichi gulped.

"And I know that for a fact."

Shinichi nodded slowly.

"So, Kudou Shinichi," he said, gentler this time. Shinichi's breath caught when Kaito kissed his hand, a trail from the tip of his nails to his wrist, from his palms to the back of his hand. At last, Kaito stopped on his ring finger and whispered, "Will you marry me?"

He could've reprimanded him about acting on his own and deciding things without his consent. He could've asked him to leave him alone. He could've said other, more hurtful things, just to give him a façade of his fastly beating heart and blush that crept up his face, colouring it and impossibly red shade, even in the darkness.

But instead, he nodded. _Dumbly._

He couldn't fathom why.

Kaito beamed and let out a winning smile, as if he hadn't anticipated the more-than-honest answer, as if he was prepared for a rejection.

"I love you," he breathed before kissing him, slipping the ring on his ring finger.

* * *

"And that's that," Haibara said calmly, finishing her story to Ran, who was gaping in disbelief. The scientist had smartly filtered the story so that she wasn't the one who'd developed the drug, and all her involvement in the Black Org was covered.

"Th-then… all this time…?!"

"Yes," she nodded. "But this knowledge is dangerous for the children," she said, her voice grave, and Ran suddenly saw the sadness reflected in her eyes as she realized who the scientist was referring to. "They must _never_ know."

"… I understand." Ran nodded, but then she asked, "What about Aoko? She seemed to know—"

"It was merely suspicion and final confirmation on her part," she shrugged, sipping on her tea. Her smile cool and her eyes gentle. Ran heaved a relieved sigh and a smile broke on her face.

"Well, he's actually pretty lucky to be alive… despite everything else."

Ran nodded in agreement and looked in the direction of the Kudou manor. The morning sun which filtered through the windows of Agasa's residence made everything seem magical, as she saw in the back of her eyes, her childhood friend still sleeping contentedly with Kaito in his bed.

She silently prayed for their happiness as she also deduced the high chance of the two reconciling.

She didn't know of the rings and promise of marriage. Yet.

 _ **A/N**_

 _ **Hmm… Yeah, I'm bad at endings. Ooookay so this is the end of the main story~ yay! But no worries, I plan on adding some omakes… Ehm, bonus chapters… that is if you're so kind to leave a few reviews, that is… *wink wink***_

 _ **Oh god, I can't believe I said that XD. Hmm let's set a meter bar thingy for the minimum amount of reviews needed~ Humm hum~ How about fifty? Is it too much? ;)**_

 _ **\- The End -**_


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